Zero's Gandalfr
by Funny Loaf
Summary: Gandalfr, the Shield of God, meant to protect its summoner from harm - a master of weaponries that would take on armies to protect its master. If Louise was destined to summon one, it would only befitting that her Gandalfr would be someone whom had been deemed a God, is a weapon master, and had took on armies alone... Another attempt with Mega Man Zero as Louise's familiar.
1. Chapter 1

Zero's Gandalfr

Summary: Zero became Louise's familiar. Let's see what happens.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. I only own most of the scenarios. A few things might be 'borrowed' from other fics, however. Here are the references so far: The Blade of the Void, Summoned Sergeant Chronicles, and I, X your Familiar (by far the best of the three crossovers). The summary was a rip off from 'The Left Hand of the Death God'.

* * *

Chapter 1: It's Hurt; It's Dead; It's Aliiive - The Arrival of an Uncommon Commoner

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, call upon the universe to grant me the strongest, the most beautiful legendary creature as my fateful servant!"

As the chant continues, the sunny day unexpectedly darkens. The sky seemed to be covered by a deep purple mist. Seconds later, thunders and lightning were beginning to form and the ground began shaking violently. The crowd of students was frantic and started backing away from the summoner. A few were screaming, "We're all gonna die," and ran for cover.

"Summon!" The girl with pink hair, black cloak, white blouse, and gray pleated skirt named Louise finished her spell. Her classmates reacted by running away from where her wand was pointing.

For a few second, nothing happened. The sky appeared to be clearing and the ground stopped shaking: a good sign. Seeing nothing had happened, the crowd breathed a sigh of relieve and walked back to their previous position, most of them laughing. Some among them joked, "Louise the Zero had struck again."

Frustrated over her failure yet again, Louise was ready to lash out at her classmates when a huge explosion occurred where she had just pointed her wand. The unlucky few caught in the blast were sent flying as a thick black smoke engulfed the courtyard. Lucky for them, the explosion was not very strong. Still, they would have a few scratches and bruises to content with.

"Whirlwind!" A strong gust of wind came forth and begins to clear the smoke away. Standing in the middle of the crowd was a middle age man in a black robe holding up a large wooden staff. "Is everyone alright?" the man asked calmly, addressing his students.

"Louise, are you trying to kill us all!"

"It's a miracle we survived."

"I knew this would happen."

The smoke soon cleared and everyone got back to their feet, none seemed seriously injured. Then a young woman with short blue hair pointed to a person laying face down on the epic center of the explosion. "Mr. Colbert, someone is hurt," said the young girl with very little emotion and pointed at the person. Everyone turned their gaze toward that unlucky individual.

Said the person on the ground was fairly tall, about six foot, and had long blond hair that covered the entire body and obscured 'her' face. It appeared 'she' was heavily wounded. Small pieces of red armor plating suffered from many cracks were attached to an equally torn black suit covered in soot. Burn marks were apparent throughout 'her' body along with many gashes. Dried blood stains covered all over 'her' body but no more blood was oozing out, indicating the injuries had happened a while ago.

Colbert immediately rushed to the casualty and tried to access the situation.

"I don't remember anyone looking like her. Who could she be?"

"It must be Louise familiar."

"No way. Seriously, I don't believe it."

"A commoner as a familiar? Ha, that got to be a first."

"She seems to be in bad shape."

"Ha, that is our Louise. Who would have thought she would summon a commoner as her familiar and then blow it up in her own explosion."

"Oh, the poor thing."

Meanwhile, Louise was standing meters away from her familiar, staring in disbelief. Not only was her 'strongest, the most beautiful legendary creature' turns out to be a commoner, but it appeared that her familiar was badly injured due to her own explosive spell. A part of her wanted to belief that this was all a dream, a nightmare that will end soon but a larger part of her knew that this was no dream.

Colbert kneeled beside the injured blond and tried to find a pulse through 'her' neck. After several tries, he confirms his fear: Low body temperature couple with no pulse, Louise's familiar was dead. _'She probably had been dead for some time. Even the blood is dry,'_ thought Colbert. It maybe harsh but he had to break the news, "I am sorry Miss Vallière, but she's dead."

Silence, then laughter erupted from the crowd.

"Haha, this is certainly a first."

"Louise, our familiar is meant to be our fateful servant through our life. What's the point of killing it before you even take a proper look?"

"Even if you don't want a commoner to be your familiar, killing it after you summoned it here is just too cruel."

"Murderer."

'_D-dead? M-murderer? T-this cannot be. This must be a mistake. I must be dreaming. That's right; it must be a nightmare I am having,'_ Louise was in shock and denial. Her knees have lost their strength, and she slid in a sitting position.

"It's not your fault, Miss Vallière," said Colbert. In trying to clear her name, Colbert explained, "Listen everyone, Miss Vallière did not kill anyone." Colbert pointed at the corpse and continued, "She was dead before she got here. Look, the blood on her had already dried. She must have died from her injuries a while ago."

Louise, after listening to Colbert's explanation, felt a little better. She had not killed anyone at least. She let loose a breath that she didn't know she was holding then observed her classmates reaction. Everyone looked back at the corpse and all was silent for a second. Then more laughter erupted.

"So that means Louise had summoned a corpse as her familiar?"

"Wow that is definitely a new record."

"What do you expect from our Louise the Zero?"

"Louise the Necromancer. Haha."

That made her mad. She was about to unleash her wrath upon her classmates but Mr. Colbert stepped in and defended her, "Silent! You should respect your classmate." Mr. Colbert glared at his students and tried to bring order.

While all the commotions were going on, the 'corpse' stirred followed by a few groans and then some coughs. Soon it got the attention of everyone, and they all looked back at the 'corpse'. They watched in silent and horror as the 'corpse' rise ever slowly just like one of those creepy zombie-corpse does.

Quite a number of students were shocked, especially the girls, and all of them have backed away hastily. Some even held their wands out defensively.

"Ahhh Mr. Colbert, i-iit-iiit's aliiive."

"Ahhh, it's a zo-zombie."

"No way, Louise the Necromancer was for real?"

The 'corpse', through great effort, slowly got itself into a kneeling position, panting and coughing all the while. Long blond hair fell all around it, obscuring its face.

Colbert was astonished and a bit concerned at the turn of event. He had checked pulse of the commoner several times and found none; the body temperature was low as well. The thought of Louise's familiar being a zombie crossed his mind. A closer look at the blond, however, eased his concerns. Zombies normally do not coughs nor pant like that. He decided to approached to the very injured blond slowly and see how 'she' was doing, "Hello Ms. are you feeling alright."

* * *

Zero woke up with a massive headache and a world of pain. His head felt like he had just played a game of 'Whack the Mole' with Omega and was hit multiple times. The rest of his body felt like it had been ran over by Fefnir's tank several dozens times. Getting into a kneeling position took almost all of his strength. In his disoriented state, he vaguely remembered his final battle with Weil. It had taken quite a toll on his body to take out the fusion between Weil and Ragnarok's core. Then, reentry to Earth's atmosphere followed by an epic free fall had brought him to the brinks. It was a miracle that he was still alive. A quick diagnostic confirms that he had suffers a great deal of damage. His helmet was missing, his body armor was in pieces, his black jump suit was torn in many places, and there were many thousands of fractures and micro fractures throughout his body structure. Even with his outlandish auto repair system, it would take him months to fix himself.

He needed to contact Ciel as soon as possible. If he's alive, there's a chance that Weil also survived. Still disoriented, Zero failed to notice he was being surrounded by a group of people as he tries to establish a link to the Resistance base.

It wasn't until a mid-aged man with a wooden staff spoke that Zero realized he was surrounded by a bunch of odd looking human. They all wore some kind of cloak as if they were from an ancient biblical era. Seriously, the mid-age man with his ridiculous staff and cloak looked like Moses leading a bunch of equally weird looking teenagers around. He also noted a few strange looking stuffed animals and a giant blob of 'jello' besides them. _'Maybe they were having a dress up party,'_ he thought absentmindedly.

Receiving no response, the mid-aged man spoke again. It was then that Zero found he had no idea what the man was saying. That was quite a surprise. He had over six thousands languages/dialects in his database and none matched the man's speech pattern.

Trying hard, Zero pushed himself to stand only to receive a great deal of pain. He opted for a sitting position instead and observed.

Then a young girl with pink hair approaches him. She appeared nervous at first but had gathered courage. She kneeled beside him. With two hands, one on each side, she grabbed his hair and flung it back on both sides. Once she took a look at his face, her expression changed from cautious to callous. She began to talk or more like demanded. _'That was bold of her,'_ was Zero's initial impression.

Still not understanding a word, he decided to concentrate on finding a working signal instead and paid little attention the people around him. They were deemed no threat after all.

* * *

Louise had watched her familiar early on. 'She' was now in a sitting position and appeared to be breathing heavily. The thought of a zombie crossed her mind. Still, she mustered her courage and marched over to her familiar, ignoring her classmates' remarks. Determined to take a look at 'her' face, she grabbed 'her' hair with both hand and pushed it back. To her relieved, there was no rotten flesh of any kind. And to her surprised, she found a young man in his early to mid-twenties instead. He was a mess. His face had suffered many bruises and scratches. Dried blood from his left temple down to his chin and blood stain on the right corner of his mouth decorated his face. Despite having sustained such injuries, his deep blue eyes still shined fiercely: a sign of life and intelligence.

"Who are you? Where did you come from? And what have you done with my familiar?" Louise demanded, having restored her confident. The strange man appeared to be ignoring her. That ticked her off. How dare he ignore her, stupid commoner!

"Well, what do you know? It was a man."

"And it's not a zombie too."

"Yeah but he is still a commoner."

"Hahaha. That's so true."

"Mr. Colbert!" Louise shouted.

"What is it, Miss Vallière?"

"Please! Let me try the summoning one more time!"

Mr. Colbert shook his head. "I cannot allow that, Miss Vallière."

"Why not?"

"It is strictly forbidden. When you are promoted to a second year student, you must summon a familiar. Your elemental specialty is decided by the familiar that you summon. It enables you to advance to the appropriate courses. You cannot change the familiar once you have summoned it, because the Springtime Familiar Summoning is a sacred rite. Whether you like it or not, you have to keep him."

"But... I've never heard of having a commoner as a familiar!"

Everyone around laughed. Louise scowled at them, but the laughter continued.

"This is a tradition, Miss Vallière. I cannot allow any exceptions; he," the middle-aged wizard pointed at the hunter, "may be a commoner, but as long as he was summoned by you, he must be your familiar. Never in history has a human been summoned as a familiar, but the Springtime Familiar Summoning takes precedence over every rule. In other words, there is no other way around it: he must become your familiar."

"You have got to be joking..." Louise shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Well then, please continue with the ceremony. Then, afterward, we need to treat his wounds."

"With him?"

"Yes, with him. Hurry, you have managed to summon him. Hurry and form a contract. Or would you rather be expelled?" Everyone voiced their agreement.

Louise stared at Zero's face and looked doubtful.

"Hey," Louise barked at Zero.

He looked up and suddenly started coughing violently. 'Blood' gushed out from his mouth and he spitted it on to the ground.

Louise was mortified and turned back to Mr. Colbert for a final plead but he just urged her on. She looked at Zero in disgust and he appeared once again gone into some kind of a trance and ignored her. _'He must be deaf or don't understand our language. Oh that's just great!'_ she thought.

Louise took out a handkerchief and wipe the fresh 'blood' off Zero's face none too gently. Finally, she closed her eyes with an air of resignation and waved around her wand. "This must be your lucky day, having a noble doing this to you." Louise mumbled, then began her chant, "I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar." With that, she finished her chant and planted a kiss on Zero's lip.

Zero, who was more worried about connection errors than Louise at the moment, was surprised when she kissed him. He was positive she looked at him in disgust just a moment ago. But then humans can be hard to understand so he didn't look into it too much. What bothered him more at the moment was this itchy sensation that was growing ever stronger on his left hand and the rising temperature across his body.

Shortly after she broke the kissed, Zero left hand began to glow and his body started to heat up fast. Hakai no Kami followed by Z.Ω.W. MKII and some unique Runes were in scripted across the backside of his hand and his body was burning. Three distinct programs were being uploaded into his data core. A unique language program being one of them was analyzed and imported into his language database. The other two programs were left aside for further analysis. With that, the contact was completed.

Chapter End

* * *

Attention new readers: as of 9/10/2014, I am banning all profanities from reviews. If you need to know why, just look at the reviews I got from a certain psychopath.

AN: So that is the first chapter. How was it? Well, not that I cared all that much, but if you decided to leave a review, please talk about the story and not my grammars (I _know_ I am that good). If you find any logic flaw (plot holes) in this fic, tell me.

For example: Why did Colbert let Louise continuing the ritual instead of treating Zero's wounds? I got a cheap excuse for that, but because it was cheap, I am not putting it in officially. In the mean time, give me your view on this. I will reveal my answer the next chapter.

This fic can be seen as a challenge for anyone brave enough to take up the task. For me, it will be base on scenarios rather than the grand schemes of things. That means it will mostly follow the FoZ storyline (meaning Zero will go through what Saito had gone through most of the time hence no major 'meaningful' changes). Saito never deal with grand scale of things and FoZ's storyline is rich enough in itself so I don't see a problem. I have a lot of scenarios and ideas lining up for this crossover. I don't mind sharing. You are welcome to use this chapter as the opening and write your own story or any later chapters you find appropriate. I am a lazy person. I rather read others works than writing my own. If I find a good idea, I might rip it off from yours and stuff it in here though. Also, I am an incredibly slow writer so expect infrequent updates. How slow? A few hundred words for a few hours on a good day…

If you find similarity between this fic and Blade of Void (another MMZ x FoZ crossover) from time to time and wonders why, that's because this fic was inspired by and base off on it. That fic had tremendous potential but unfortunately handled incorrectly so I had to write my own. Hopefully, it will be better.

Finally, Zero's personality was said to be hard to capture. So which Zero am I using? 'Zero: The soul of a Hero' by Archaon. That's the one I am using, arguably the best MM author out there. If you are too lazy to read his works, then think Hatake Kakashi. End of ranting for now so see you next time.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So Omega and 'Whack the Mole' doesn't draw in a 0_o moment huh? Hmm, tough crowd indeed…

This was the question last time: Why did Colbert let the ritual continue instead of treating Zero's wounds?

No one tried? Oh well. As promised, here's my take on this. There are often scenarios in which summoned creatures' life force are tied to their summoner's health. In other word, Colbert was hoping Louise could share some of her life force to stabilize Zero's condition. However, if I open that can of worms (reasoning), I face the possibility that Colbert had deliberately jeopardize Louise's safety for a being that may or may not die in the next couple of hours. Of course, I could always say the worst Louise get if her familiar dies would be a fever for a few days and therefore worth the risk. Still, I felt: A) cheap excuse, B) ties me down to facts that may or may not come back to haunt me, C) too lazy to make Colbert do the actual explaining.

* * *

Chapter 2: Familiar and Magic? Welcome to La La Land

After the kiss, Louise backed off and watched dispassionately as her familiar screamed in pain. "It will be over soon; just wait. The Familiar's Runes are being inscribed," Louise said, as if it was an every day event.

The auto language detection system matched the speech pattern to the newly acquired language data and Zero suddenly understood what she was saying. _'Familiar's Runes, what is she talking about?'_ The pain continued for a whole minute before it subsided and the legendary hunter, once again, found himself lying on the ground. The reploid forced himself back into a sitting position. Using his newly acquired language skill, he asked, "Who are you people?" He pointed at the back of his left hand and continued asking, "And what have you done to me?"

Hearing him speak for the first time, Louise was taken aback. He wasn't deaf and he did understand their language, assumed the young mage. That irritated her. That meant this commoner had chosen to ignore her this whole time. She snapped. "What is your name, commoner?" She demanded.

'_Commoner? Well that was rude,'_ thought Zero. "Me? I am Zero," he replied. Before he can say any more, belly-shaking laughter erupted from the crowd as if it was the funniest thing they have ever heard. Some were laughing so hard that they fell to the ground.

"WH-WHAT!?" Louise screamed then froze as her classmates laugh. The day just keep getting worse was her only thought.

"That is so like our Louise."

"Hahaha, even her familiar was named Zero."

"Hahaha, like master like familiar."

"Haha, I-I can't take this anymore, blahaha!"

This was certainly not the reaction Zero expected. Usually when his name was announced, they would either cheer him as a hero or fled in terror. Well some would get excited and preferred a fight. The Guardians comes to mind, then Fairy Leviathan. The legendary hunter involuntarily shuddered at the thought... Anyway, laughing this hard over his name was new. What's so funny about the name 'Zero' anyway?

"That's enough, everyone. Classes are about to resume," Colbert tried to calm the students and succeeded. As the students and their familiar left, Colbert turned back to Louise and said, "Miss Vallière, we need to treat his wounds." He then asked Zero, "Can you walk?"

Slowly, the legend stood, still in pain but managed. He followed the mid-aged man and stole a glanced at the young girl. She seemed to have finally gotten over her shocked but her face was still red with embarrassment or perhaps anger. It looked like the later as she appeared ready to pounce on him at any time...

-z-z-

A short walk later and Zero found himself inside a medieval castle. He continued to search a signal but found none. He wondered if he was inside a highly advance cloak field that block signal transmissions but then the residents here appeared to have no technology at all, not even a light bulb. He started to wonder from which rock had these people crawl out from. As the hunter followed the older guy, he kept glancing back at the girl. She was glaring daggers behind his back this whole time and he kept wondering why...

"Please come in," the old guy opened a door to the infirmary and led them in. The room looked like some kind of a cross between an ancient lab and a witch hut. A large desk lay in the back of the room where a large window was located, illuminating the room. Some test tubes can be seen lining up on a desk. There was a big iron pot in the center of the room filled with unknown liquid. On the right side of the room, several shelves filled with some kind of bottles, presumably medicines were located. Next to the shelves, some kind of dried herbs were hanging. The left side had had a small bed for patient and elimination. Next to the bed, there was a small shelf for some kind of books. "Have a sit," the mid-aged man indicated the small bed and went to gather some bottles, a large bowl and some bandages.

Zero accepted the offer and sat on the bed. "Who are you people? And where am I?"

"I am, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, your master, and you are my familiar! You better remember that!" Louise responded irritably, her small hands balled into tiny fists. Colbert gave her a look of disapproval but she frowned at her familiar instead. "Stupid commoner," she added, whispering to herself.

"Huh?" was all Zero could say. He wasn't sure how to respond to the angry girl as she put her fists on both sides of her waist, trying to look imposing. On one hand, she was really rude and deserved to be taught a lesson. On the other hand, she looked like Ciel throwing a fit over one of his dangerous stunts (or an eight year old screaming over some toys). In other words: very cute. Seriously, he felt like laughing in her face right now, but he refrained from doing so. Laughing would only make things worse.

"Miss Vallière, please control yourself," the old guy warns and returned with some bandages and bottles.

"Humph!" was her response. She turned her head to the side, folded her arms but kept glaring at Zero. Her cheek was red and puffed, indicating she was either mad, embarrassed or both.

"I am Professor Colbert and this is Tristain Magic Academy. Miss Vallière, here, summoned you as her familiar," Colbert answered calmly.

"Huh?" again, was Zero's only response. Familiar, magic academy, what are these people talking about? Have he damaged his sound receptors during to the fall and he is now hearing things? Come to think of it, he did saw some strange looking creatures along side the group of people earlier but he didn't really paid much attention to them, thinking they were nothing more than stuffed animals. As he tried recalling some of those images, he found those creatures he had written off as 'stuffed animals' had indeed moved on their own. There were also some very unlikely creatures among them as well. In fact, some of them looked so exotic they appeared out of this world, like that giant blob of 'jello' earlier. On closer examination, it resembled a slime monster from some old RPG game. That thing expanded, contracted and changed shapes from time to time. It was definitively not some jello for a party like he first thought. Have evolution gave birth to those bizarre creatures over the century? Even that giant blob of jello/slime? Or perhaps his digital recording system was damaged and his memory was corrupted as well...

"How are you holding up? These injuries seemed to be serious," Seeing that he seemed to have zoned out, Colbert decided to focus them on the task at hand.

"Oh, er, it's going to take a while for my auto repair system to take care of it but I will be fine. Some bandages would help," Zero replied absentmindedly. Seeing how low tech they were, he didn't think they would be much help.

'_Auto-repair-system? Natural healing process the body has, maybe...? What an odd phrase to use?'_ Colbert thought. "May I check your pulse? I want to make sure you are fine?" Colbert asked pointed to his left hand.

'_Pulse?'_ he thought. That brought Zero back to reality. A reploid normally would have no pulse, and he took a brief moment (like a tenth of a second) to decide what to do. Finally, Zero decided that it's best to remain anonymous and just go with the flow. He somehow found a way to generate pulses by controlling the flow of his body fluid and started mimicking it to a normal human being. It took less than a second to set his pulse. Once done, he extended his left hand toward Colbert. "Sure."

'_These are some very unusual Runes,'_ Colbert noted as he took Zero's hand. _'His wrist is so cold. He must have lost too much blood. Damn it, he won't last long,'_ Colbert thought gravely. He found the pulse on Zero's wrist quickly and expected the worst. But to his surprise, he found everything appeared to be as normal as any normal-healthy man. That puzzled him greatly. _'How can he have such a strong pulse when he suffered from THIS many injuries? And his body temperature was so low! And these wounds seem fresh too!'_ The professor stole a glance at Louise, _'Just what kind of creature have you summoned, Miss Vallière?'_

As Colbert pondered whether he read the pulse wrong, Louise asked, her voice filled with concern, "Is he alright?"

"Um, he will be fine," Colbert answered, a little caught off guard. It seemed to have ease Louise concern. _'Although, I wish to know how,'_ he thought as he studied the strange familiar carefully. As the familiar simply sit there indifferent to his watchful gaze, the professor decided to move on. "Well then, why don't we put these bandages on? Please remove your armor and clothes."

"Before that, do any of you have anything that I could tie my hair with?" asked Zero. Louise reached into her pocket gave him a pink ribbon.

After Zero tied his hair back, he began slowly removing the little armor pieces that were still intact. He had refused Colbert's help. The professor wouldn't know how to remove them anyway. First came the left shoulder pad which suffered many cracks. Then the upper right chest plate disengaged and came off his body. After removing the remaining armor pieces, the hunter now stood in his battered black jump suit with a black belt across his waist holding his Z-saber and Z-buster.

Louise was watching her familiar this whole time and was shocked to see so many injuries on him. Her eyes were glued to Zero's body, and she winced every time he removed a piece of armor, revealing more nasty wounds underneath. Colbert watched on in amazement. With that many injuries, the familiar should not even be alive, let alone being conscious at all. Zero, on the other hand, appeared as if this was a natural-everyday occurrence and there was nothing to worry about.

"I am ready," Zero announced wearing his worn out black jump suit.

"What about your clothes?" questioned Colbert and pointed to Zero's black suit.

"Oh, there is no need. Just wrap it up," Zero pointed at his gashes and gave a smile of confidence.

Colbert raised an eyebrow at that but decided not to argue over it. He poured some kind of paste from the bottles into the large bowl and began mixing them. When he was about to apply the paste to the wounded hunter, Zero's hand shot forward, stopping Colbert, and spoke, "I don't need that. Just wrap the bandages on my wounds and I will be fine."

"Shut up commoner. You wouldn't know any better," Louise growled. What would he know about treating wounds, stupid commoner?

"Miss Vallière!" Colbert warned.

"Humph!" Louise turned away and folded her arms in defiance.

Colbert sighed. "These herbs will help your wounds heal," he pleaded.

"Trust me; it would not help. I, er, have a special body. It is better you save them for others."

Since Zero would not budge, Colbert sighed and went along with it. After all, his pulse did say he was healthy despite his appearance. Maybe he was allergic to them... The old man retrieved a small wand from a hidden pocket, pointed it at the bandages, and began to chant. The bandages floated and wrapped themselves around the reploid's body.

Zero gawked in disbelieve; his jaw dropped wide open. _'WH-WHAT the HELL was THAT!? Ma-Magic? MAGIC DO EXISTS!?'_

"Is there something wrong?" Colbert asked as he looked at Zero's odd reaction.

Upon hearing Colbert's question, Zero recovered a little and answered, "Erm, nothing. Nothing at all. Everything is normal. Nothing is wrong, absolutely nothing..."

Colbert could tell there is something, but he decided to keep it to himself. Instead, he extended his hand and said, "Hmmm...I like to check your vitals one more time." The familiar nodded and extended his hand. Once again, everything checked normal so the mid-aged mage made his decision, "I like him to stay here and rest a bit more. Miss Vallière, you should go back to class. You can come and pick him up later."

"Yes, Mr. Colbert," Louise replied and glanced at Zero. She was still a bit worried but since Mr. Colbert said he was fine, she have no choice but to go to class.

After Louise left, Colbert turned back to Zero. In an attempt to satisfy his curiosity, he asked, "I got a few questions I would like to ask." He waited until Zero looked at him before he continued, "First of all, where did you come from?"

"Uh haha," not wanting to give away too much information yet, Zero decided to answer as vague as possible, "I am from, um, the north." He had no idea where he was at the moment let alone where 'north' was; he just randomly picked a direction.

"North huh...?" Colbert waited a bit for him to elaborate. But when nothing else came, he asked, "What happened to you?" Colbert indicates the hunter's injuries.

"Oh, there was a fight and I was, er, forced to jump off, er, a cliff or something..." mumbled Zero. It was true: There was a huge fight and he did fell from a high place, except it wasn't a cliff...

'_What kind of answer is that? He is clearly hiding something,'_ thought Colbert.

Zero detected that Colbert wanted to continue so he faked a couple of coughs and held his head pretending to suffered from some sort of head pain like amnesia or something. He then said, "Ow, I think I need some rest now."

Since this commoner left no room for further discussion, Colbert nodded and let his patient rest.

Meanwhile, Zero lay down on the bed and started to think. Nothing good will come out by answering them truthfully. Not yet, he reasoned. Still, he got to admit that it was amazing for this tribe of people to actually learned magic. They have achieved what all the scientists in the world deemed impossible. Ciel would be amazed... Pushing that aside, he continued his search. Still nothing; the reploid decided to do a thorough diagnostic and assess his damage.

* * *

The sun had set when Louise came to picked him up from the infirmary. "How is he doing, Mr. Colbert?"

"Oh, he is doing fine. You can take him back, Miss Vallière," said Colbert. He had given up on getting any information from Zero. He had skillfully avoided most of his questions and gave him really vague answers. Colbert was a little disappointed at that but since this commoner appeared wanting to say no more and his injuries seemed not as serious as he first thought, he decided to let him go. "Just make sure to let him rest and he should recover soon."

"Yes, Mr. Colbert," Louise bowed respectfully. She then walked toward to Zero, her attitude changed completely to the opposite. "You, come," she commanded, glaring at Zero.

Zero raised an eyebrow but followed her as she walked out of the room. They were now inside the corridor of the medieval castle. Torches were the main source of light here. Louise led Zero through a door and led him outside.

Once Zero was out in the open, he happened to looked up and saw something that shouldn't be there: Moons. Two huge moons illuminated the night sky: one pink, one blue. He stopped following Louise and pointed at the moons, his jaw dropped wide open for a second time for the day. _'Where on EARTH am I!?'_

Hearing no footsteps following her, Louise turned to see her familiar pointing at the full moons as if it was the first time he ever saw them. "What, it's just the moons. Let's go commoner; I am tired."

"B-but there are two of them!"

"Yes, so? Come on, let's go," Louise urged, not really caring.

He stood there unmoving, his mind racing. _'Okay, first there was magic, and now this. I must have died! And this is the afterlife! Or I am in a comma and this is some kind of dreams. That's right; I must be in La La Land! There is simply no way that 'magic' exists and no way it could have achieved interplanetary travel!'_ Zero fell back onto the ground. He was in denial. _'Perhaps if I sleep a bit and wake up tomorrow, everything will go back to normal!'_

"Hey, don't sleep out here!" Louise boomed and walked over to Zero. Seeing that he ignored her yet again, her patient had completely ran out. "Did you hear what I said!?" she kicked him in the face. Her foot hit his face and... "Ouch! What's your head made of?" the young mage whined, holding her foot in pain.

"Hey, don't do that!" he yelled at her immediately after the kick.

The pink hair girl didn't pay any attention to his disgruntlement. She favored in holding her foot and trying to soothe the pain instead. She felt like she just kicked a large rock. Who knew kicking someone in the face was so painful...

Zero looked at the girl and almost laughed. Shaking his head, the reploid begin to think, _'Ok, it is too early to give up. Maybe this girl is the key to set things straight. She did got me here, right?'_ Zero got back to his feet as his mind began forming many questions and different scenarios of how this happened. But first, he must address her sternly for her action, "Kicking people when they are down is not nice!"

"Shut up, commoner; you should have followed me instead of messing around," Louise said, still holding her foot and not looking at him as she tried shaking out the pain. A minute passed and Louise resumed her march and led the way, completely ignoring Zero's disapproving stares.

Soon they entered a new door on the other side of the castle from which they came from and reached the dorm. Louise took a few turns, walked up a few floors and finally reached her room, ignoring stares from the few classmates and servants along the way. She opened the door and stepped in. Zero followed.

The first thing Louise did, after lighting the room with an oil lamp, was to get comfortable. She brought her hand up to the top button of her blouse and started to undo them. Soon, she stripped down to her underwear.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing?" stammered Zero.

Louise answered as if it was the most obvious thing. "I'm changing into my nightgown. It's getting late."

"Do it elsewhere, like in the bathroom where I can't see you!" Zero turned his back to her.

"Why?" Her undergarment came off.

"Because I am right here! Have some decency!" Still facing away.

"How dare you question my decency! You are just my familiar." She tried to stare him down but he was facing away. Seeing it as pointless, she putted on her nightgown and climbed into bed.

'_Wow, she sees me as a pet and not a guy...,'_ thought Zero. The legendary hunter contemplated whether he should be mad or just laugh it off. Seriously, that was quite insulting. He tried to calm down. Finally, he let it pass. After all, in his eye, she was still a child. Zero sighed. Then a pink laced panty flew and landed on the top of his head. _'She's just a kid. She's just a kid...'_ Zero mentally chanted.

"Hey, you, what other names do you have because I am not going to call you Z-Zero you know."

"Why not?" Zero turned to her, grabbed her panty and threw it on the floor. _'A rather spoiled kid...'_ Zero mentally added. He had to be the adult here, he reasoned.

"Because it's such a stupid name."

"It is just a name," He walked over to a chair, next to a desk, sat down and continued, defending his name, "plus I think it can be an incredible name."

"I don't care. I hate it."

"Hmmm," Zero stopped for a moment and think of a response, "Well people did slap me with a nick name lately but I don't think you would like it."

"Why is that? What's the name?" asked Louise lazily. In her opinion, anything would be better than Zero.

"You want to know?"

"Humph!"

"Fine, but if you don't like it, we will stick with Zero," he said. He observed her for a few seconds, but she just stared at him impatiently. Zero took her silence as a yes and said, "They called the God of Destruction but since it's such a long name, you may call me GoD with a capital D."

"Wh-what!" Louise shot from her laying position, "The nerve," grabbed her pillow, chewed on it a bit and launched it at Zero, "I am your master. You are just my familiar, commoner," she pointed her finger at Zero, her face red and puffed, and continued, "I am not calling you god!"

"Well then, Zero it is," Anticipated her reaction, Zero raised his hand up and caught her pillow all the while smiling, indicating it was meant to be a joke. This seemed to have a desirable effect as Louise calmed down.

"What qualified me as a commoner anyway?" Zero asked, trying to change the subject.

"A commoner is someone who is not a mage."

"That's it?"

"Well, pretty much yes. Look, I rather not get into the specifics." Louise folded her arms with an air of superiority. "But why '_Zero_'?" Louise, still upset over his name, asked. She had calmed down a bit and Zero had tossed back her pillow to which she was hugging. "It's such a blasphemous name." As Zero raise an eyebrow in question, Louise explained, "...like you are nothing, you always failed..." Louise was barely audible and was clearly sulking, her face buried in her pillow.

'_She seems to have confident issues,'_ observed Zero. "Hmm, really? I don't see it that way. I think it is a pretty cool name," Louise raised her own eyebrow and the legendary hunter decided to show her, "I shall reduce you to zero," Zero say it in a low sinister voice that sent chills down Louise's spine. The hunter continued with a much more casual and care free tone, "...or your army to zero or send you to nothingness. See, it's an incredibly badass name."

"Bad-as? ...Humph!" She won't admit it but it did sent chills down her body. She was sure others would feel the same. Still, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let him kept the name. In the end, she decided to let it go. "Fine, Zero. If that's what you want."

"By the way, you used '_magic_' to summon me here, right?" Breaking Louise's train of thoughts, Zero continued, "That means a temporal-space-travel ability, right?" Zero waited until she slowly nodded before he continues, "By any chance, do you know how to un-summon me? Like send me back to where I came from?"

"That's impossible," Louise yawned.

"Why not? Look, I am not your ideal familiar. I am, er, just a '_commoner_'. Wouldn't it be better for you to summon something else, like a dog or something? Send me back and you can do over for something better!" Zero exclaimed the last part as he tries to make it sound exciting.

However, Louise answered boringly as if she was reciting a well known fact, "I would if I could but you've been bound by a contract as my familiar; once the bond is established, it can't be undone."

"You got to be kidding me."

Not liking where this is going, Louise changed the subject and asked, "Where did you came from anyway?"

Hearing that, Zero suddenly felt very tired. Since she was just a kid and the information to his identity was no longer relevant to anyone at this point, he let his guard down and answered monotonically, "Neo Arcadia." After all, who would ever consider him to be a legendary figure?

"I have never heard of such a place."

"That's because it's far, farrr away."

"What's Neo Arcadia like?"

Zero stopped and thinks of a likely response. In his world, their technology would probably be like magic to her and he really didn't feel like explaining at the moment so he began to replacing techno terms with magic terms. "It was a magical kingdom with magical stuffs."

"Like what?" Louise asked curiously.

"Like a light bulb. With a flip of a switch, light turns on," Zero answered dispassionately. It had been such a long day that he now had closed his eyes, set his left arm on the desk and rest his head on his elbow, his mind no longer focus.

"Really? No wand or incarnation necessary?" Louise asked to which Zero nodded. Louise was skeptical at first, but since she detected no lies, she began to believe him. "What do you do in Neo Arcadia?"

"I am a reploid fighting against a tyrant."

"What is a reploid?"

"An android."

"Android?"

Instead of giving a long answer like - a robot emulating a human, followed by what a robot is, he yawned, "Magical knight." At this point Zero was so tired that he let his mind ran on auto pilot. He was hung over on the fact that he was stuck in this dream world with no way out. His body was a mess and this girl just kept on asking stupid questions with no end in sight. A little mistake like this was unavoidable.

"Really?" Louise suddenly perked up with excitement. _'A magical knight?'_ echoed across her mind. Maybe he was not as useless as she first thought. Finally getting somewhere with her familiar, she asked, "What kind of magic can you do?" Her hopes were high.

"All kinds." Not realizing her excitement, Zero's mind continued to run on auto pilot.

Louise threw her pillow to the side, jumped up from her bed and rushed up to Zero. She was a foot away from him and stared right at his face, her eyes shining with excitement like Alouette getting a brand new bunny doll (or a six-year-old in a candy store). "Really?! What element can you perform?"

"Element?" Finally realizing his mistake, Zero looked back at the girl with full awareness, but it was too late. With the level of excitement she was displaying now, he had to think up of something. Since he lost his helmet when he woke up here, he was unable to link up with his elemental chips. Although he might be able to redirect those links and produce the elemental effects, it would not be very effective. Plus she looked so excited, he was sure she would ask him to perform all kinds of elements. That takes too much time and effort; he rather decline. Let the girl call him a liar, he reasoned, not a big deal.

"Yes. Like water?" Louise asked excitedly.

"No." Zero returned to his previous position of un-interest.

"Fire?" Still hoping.

"Nope." The hunter answered unenthusiastically.

"Earth?" She was beginning to lose hope.

Zero shook his head lazily.

"Well then, wind?" She lowered her head in resignation. She already knew what the answer would be. She just wanted to confirm it. Life had never been easy on her, and she figured it wouldn't start now.

Zero took in a breath and blew across the top of Louise's head, rattling her hair.

"Then you don't know magic at all!" Louise snapped. She was mad.

"What difference does it make what element I have or not?" Zero cuts her off.

"It makes a lot of difference," said Louise. Folding her arms together, Louise proceeded to explain, "A familiar's element determines its master's elemental affinity. It determines what kind of magic I can learn. If you have none, that means... Why did you lie?" She whined.

'_That is interesting,'_ Zero noted but he really needs some rest. "Cause I feel like it," answered the tired hunter. Before Louise could response to that, Zero added, "Didn't you say you were tired? You should go to sleep. I will put myself in stasis." The hunter got up. He did not care anymore. Whatever happens will happen. When the time comes, it would be better for him to have at least a working body so getting there now was the top priority.

"Stasis?"

"Hibernation," he clarified and went to floor by Louise's window and lay down.

"Like a bear?"

"Yes."

"Can you even do that?" Louise looked skeptical.

"Of course, I am a '_magical knight_' after all," Zero rolled his eyes.

"Why hibernate?"

"I needed to heal myself," responded the tired hunter and closed his eyes. "I will be awake in about three days so don't go bury me in a hole or something," the reploid added as a precaution. The last thing he needed right now was to wake up buried in a grave, six feet under. He then promptly shut himself down along with all his weapons. It wouldn't be good if he was to be accidentally stabbed or blasted with his own weapons by some naive or curious individuals while he slept.

Louise watched as her familiar went silent. She observed him for a few more minutes before deciding to go sleeping herself. She went and blew out the oil lamp then climbed back in her bed. She would deal with whatever challenges tomorrow brings, she decided.

Chapter End

* * *

AN: If this chapter makes you laugh, good. That means it is doing what I indented it to do. If it does not, oh well. It just means I have a…twisted sense of humor. Anyway I feel pretty good with this chapter as it had done pretty much what I ask for (plot wise) so, yeah...

Review if you wanted to.

Answers to reviewers (or my ranting so please just ignore me here):

Lord Sigfry: Sorry and everyone, I lied. Here is the 'real' summery: Instead of Saito, Louise summoned the legendary Maverick Hunter Zero as her familiar. Let's explore what would happen. ^̬^

Shintouyu: On the cloak issue: Point taken. However, I was thinking it was more of a culture clash thing and not double standard. You may want to fact check me on this (I am too lazy to do so myself) but as far as I remember, Zero only wear cloak during the opening of Z2 and he had good reasons to do so. Beyond that, I just don't recall him wearing any. I don't recall any Resistant soldier or Neo Arcadia guys (with the exception of Phantom) wearing one either; even humans in Z4 don't wear them. Let's face it; people in both the X and Zero series wore cloaks to serve useful functions. The folks in FoZ wore them as fashionable items. It's highly unlikely that Zero would walk into a room full of people wearing cloaks (just to look great) during his life time hence why he feel strange.

Nyamu: Offense? None taken. Since you gave me a long review, I give you a long reply. I hope I did not offense you either. First, I appreciate your suggestion for a Zero Boot Camp, but unfortunately I lack the skill to put that into good use (I just can't find a believable scenario for that). Perhaps I should have made myself clearer when I say 'things are largely going to remain the same'. What I really mean is that both Saito and Zero will encounter a similar set of circumstances but what they do about it is going to be vastly different. Further more, Saito's quests (be it success, failure, big or small) never showed much direct implications to anything. It just goes to show how loosely the situation in FoZ can be interpreted. I like to explore the politic and economic sides too. But with no clear views and many uncontrollable variables, it can render FoZ's plot no longer FoZ. One wrong move and you are screwed. I like reshaping scenarios, not constructing them from scratch. You liked Z4, right? What was Zero's final conversation with Kraft about again? So yeah, let's leave the hard stuffs to Princess Henrietta and let her handle them like she normally would. Zero's involvement should remain limited: small advises or Special Ops (like Wardes's case) at most. On some side notes: FoZ being an easy crossover. I am half agreeing with you on this. Generally speaking, Louise's ability to summon all available heroes/villains made it easy. But when you consider her inherent character flaws (not just her personality), that number was cut from infinite to a handful. If she gets the wrong one, she could end up abandoned (the most likely case), dead or worse. And of course, she can do nothing about it either. SAO x FoZ? Hmm, in general, it's going to be a problematic crossover but who knows...

jetslinger333: Half dead? I am not sure if we should even qualify him as being alive at all... LOL

ManaZero: Well, there will be changes but I am not so sure about giving them futuristic technical support…

pltrgst: Ok...

the real Marik Ishtar: Zero from X series? Nice idea. Well go ahead and make it. I want to see one. I dare you to make one. One advise though: make sure doing it wisely. Zero from X 1-6 faces an acute problem described above so you may need some creative setups to make it work (same with mine here, except less severe). As for why Z4, because he had completed all tasks in his universe and had became a free agent (I do not buy ZX series as genuine souls of heroes but I rather not get into that debate here).

Wow, still reading this? You must either really liked my ranting or so very bored. Ok, I shall provide you with something to think about. I spoke of compatibility. Who do you think is the most compatible with Louise? Put it in your review if you wanted to or not. For me: X is a much better candidate than Zero. Kakashi seems better too. Hell, even Saito edged out Zero by a nose, I think. But I am not exactly trying to make her life easier by giving her the best. In fact, I choose Zero so that I could mess with her life and make her miserable just so I could laugh at her. I am so evil. Anyway, she is not the only one I wanted to make fun of. I would jump at the chance to humiliate any character in here, really; and Zero is one of my prime targets. Yup, so evil...

Here's my philosophy on this fic: 'If there's an opportunity stood before me, I will not hesitate. I shall humiliate the hell out of them.' Does anyone find this quote familiar? Just wondering…

What?! You are still reading this crap? Ok, here's a bonus little secret. I actually had 5 chapters completed before I upload the first. I plan to upload it about once a month, allowing me to do other chapters, hopefully. The first was meant to be a teaser, to test the water. So yeah...

Well, that is the end of my ranting. Goodbye everyone and uh, see you next time…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Of Zombie-san, Master Thief, &amp; Mysterious Runes

The three days had not been kind to Louise. Both her teachers and classmates had asked where her familiar had gone. She answered that he was hibernating in her room but no one except Mr. Colbert believes her. Some even spread rumors that her familiar was really dead, and she was hiding his body. Others ridiculously suggested that her familiar had become a zombie, and she had to put him under chains.

True, her familiar had no heartbeat nor body heat but he didn't smell like a corpse. And while he was in her room the whole time, he was not under any bound. She had been afraid at first when she checked on him the day after his 'hibernation'. She asked Mr. Colbert for help and explained what happened the night before. Colbert was puzzled at her familiar's strange ability but told her to wait and see. If her familiar does not decay, then there was nothing to worry about. Another day passed and nothing happened, no smell of decaying flesh. That had put Louise at ease.

Then this morning, she heard rumors of a mysterious figure roaming around academy ground, watching the students. The mysterious figure reportedly has long blond hair and would vanish in a blink of an eye, like a ghost. The thought of it being Zero did come across her mind but she dismissed it.

It was noon and Louise had the rest of the day off, and she decided to check up upon her familiar. When she got to her room, she discovered that her familiar was missing. She bolted out her room in worry. Many questions ran through her mind. Where had her familiar gone? Did his hibernation ended? Did someone broke into her room and steal him from her? Who would do such a thing?

Louise grabbed a random maid and asked, "Have you seen my familiar?" She was frantic.

* * *

Zero wakes up and finds himself in the same room he had been before he went into stasis. That meant one thing: he was still stuck in this reality. The hunter sighed. A quick check on his body confirmed that he was in much better shape. All his external wounds had been sealed, his black jump suit was fully repaired, and many of his internal damages fixed. While his body was far from being 'battle ready', at least he would be able to move around with little trouble.

It was early morning and the sun shined brightly through the window. The girl, Louise, was not in the room. He decided to get up and explore his surrounding, but first, he need to clean himself.

With bandages still covering more than half of his body and most of his face, Zero roamed around the student dorm looking like some sort of undead. In his attempt to find a bathroom, the hunter encountered a couple of maids cleaning the hall. He was about to ask them where he could find a one but they ran away in screams of terror before he could utter a word. _'What wrong with them?'_ Zero thought and continued his search. A minute later, he encountered another maid and the same thing happened. This time, he decided to give chase and cornered the maid.

She had black hair and is young and cute, observed Zero. As the hunter approach, the young maid put her hands together, lowered her head and pleaded, "Please don't eat me, Zombie-san."

'_Zombie-san? What's wrong with her?'_ Zero was at a lost of word. Shaking his head, the hunter sighed, "...Don't worry, I am not going hurt you." That seems to have put her at ease. "But why Zombie-san?" He just had to ask.

"You are Miss Vallière's familiar right?" she asked. At his nod, she continues, "They say you were dead when Miss Vallière summoned you here. Then you suddenly rise up like... and everyone called you..." she looked apologetic at this point.

"I see..." The hunter was deep in thought, _'Dead? It must be before I wake up...'_

"I am Siesta," the maid smiled and bowed. "Nice to meet you."

"I am Zero. Nice to meet you too, Siesta," the reploid smile back, "Um, I am looking for a bathroom. Do you know where it is, Siesta? I am afraid I am not familiar with this place."

"Oh, it is this way, Zero-san." Siesta led Zero to the bathroom door.

"Thank you. You should go back to work now. I will be fine from here." The maid nodded and left as Zero enters the bathroom.

Zero stripped the bandages off and proceeded to clean himself while plotting his next move. When he emerged from the bathroom, the hunter decided to retrieve the broken armor pieces left in the infirmary. But first, he used a little bit of energy and hid his weapons around his belt through holographic-concealment. He really didn't want to explain their uses...

Zero ninja-ed his way to the infirmary, not wanting to disturbed the 'locals'. He enters the infirmary and finds no one. His broken armor was currently laid across the large desk in the back along with some kind of tools and an old looking book. Apparently someone was trying to check out the properties of his armor if the tools on the desk were to suggest. Zero placed his right hand over his armor. Using some energy from his reserve, the reploid proceed to phase out the armor. He wouldn't be needing it so long as he was to stuck here, not that the broken armor was in any condition of use at the moment...

The hunter's attention was drawn to the book sitting on the desk with a title call 'Book of Runes'. He looked at the runes on the back of his left hand and book. Before he can read what was inside, he detected someone coming. Not wanting to encounter Colbert and be subjected to his 'curious mind' at the moment, Zero sneaked out of the infirmary.

After he left, Zero decided to learn more about the 'locals' and went on an information gathering trip (aka: spying).

-z-z-

"Hey, have you heard? Louise the Zero have summoned a commoner as her familiar."

"Really? I heard it was a zombie..."

"Hahaha... Who is there?"

Zero quickly left. In his quest to learn more about the 'locals', he discovered that Louise was often the laughing stock. He felt a bit sorry for her. No wonder she was always in a bad mood; she was being bullied. This place comprised of students, teachers, and other staff members. All of students and teachers looked like mages and appeared wealthy while the other staff members looked like servants.

The reploid didn't learn much from these human and decided to take a look on his surrounding instead. Finding the tallest structure, Zero began to wall-jumped to the top. Once he got there, the hunter gets a breathtaking bird's eye view of his surrounding. The tower that he was on was part of a massive structure that stretch out to form a large castle complex in shape of a five-point star. Five great walls surrounded the huge castle to form a pentagon. Green meadows can be seen on both inside and outside the walls.

With a beautiful blue sky, it was certainly a relaxing scene. Zero decided to rest a bit and thinks about his situation. He needed to find a way back to his own world. He was pretty sure Weil was dead but he needed to confirmed it and make sure everything he had done was not in vain. He had faith in Ciel, but he would still like to see things with his own eyes. Whether he can go back depends a lot on these local mages though.

The sky was clear and the birds were chirping. It was such a beautiful day and the legendary maverick hunter began to imagine his days here. It certainly wasn't bad to retire in such a peaceful place. Over time, it might become too boring for him but war was not an option. If it was either having fun fighting worthy opponents and risk constant war or living a boring life in such a peaceful place, he would choose this peaceful place. After centuries of conflicts, the hunter was tired.

His thought shifted to the 'locals'. Being low tech as they were, they didn't mess up their environment. That's definitely a plus. All he now has to do was to guide Louise to become a better person and his mission here would be complete.

It was noon when a bell suddenly rang. Students poured out from the huge complex, many with their familiar-creatures. Zero watched as a pink hair girl walked hurriedly to the student dorm. He decided to return to Louise before she makes a fuss about it.

* * *

Louise reached her room and found Zero missing. She randomly asked a maid, who happens to be Siesta, and she told her that her familiar was looking for a bathroom early. Louise was mad. Her familiar had left without letting her know. She now stood in front of that bathroom and screamed, "Zero!" She entered the bathroom without bother knocking. Luckily, the room was empty. A large amount of used bandages was left in the trash can, indicating her familiar was here.

Louise stormed out of bathroom and continued her search. She asked a couple more people on her way as she made her way to the dorm exit. By now, many students had heard the commotions she caused.

"Hey guys, it looks like Louise's familiar was missing."

"No way, you mean it ran away from her?"

"Yup, that's what it looks like."

"Oh no, it means Mr. Zombie is on the loose."

"Hahaha..."

"Oh Louise, you should have keep that commoner under lock like I told you," A boy with curly blonde hair and wore a frill-trimmed shirt said as Louise passes by. He looked rather self-important and had a rose stuck in his shirt pocket. "You do have the locks and chains I gave you right?"

"Shut up, Guiche." Louise continued her march.

Louise was furious by the time she sees the exit. The comments she heard along the way had pushed her way beyond reasoning. She now stood raging mad.

"Yo, Louise," Zero greeted Louise at the main entrance of the building just as he walked in.

"You..." Louise marched over to Zero, grabbed then his arm and dragged him to her room, her face unreadable.

Not realizing the extent of Louise's anger, he went along with her. The other students he met along the way, however, chose wisely to stay out of her way and whispers among themselves. A few female students even gave him a look of pity.

When they reached her room, Louise shoved Zero in and closed the door behind them. She then wordlessly marched to a drawer and began to search.

"Louise," Zero began.

"Shut up!"

Sighed, Zero tried again, "Louise, I know I left without telling you. But you weren't there when I wake up so I decide to explore a little. Look, I am back so calm down."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She walked back with shackles in hands. She didn't really hear what Zero says. Enraged, she was in her own little world, "I know I should have done this earlier! You commoner cannot be trusted!"

'_She wouldn't...'_ Zero mind was somewhat blanked when she came back with chains and locks. The hunter stood and watched in stupor as she yells; then she putted shackles on both of his hands and one end of a chain around his neck and another end to a wall. His mind screamed, _'Is she serious!? What have I done to deserve this?'_ He was livid. Who the hell did she think she was to put him under chains?!

Louise went on and screamed something about discipline but Zero's mind was thinking more in the line of slapping her silly. The hunter closed his eyes and counted to ten. He really didn't want to hit a little girl but he was so tempted to...

Once Zero is calmed, he decided the course of actions. First, these shackles and chain need to come off. Then he will need a long talk with this little brat. He contemplated whether he should break the locks with brute force but then, decided to do it in another way. Brute force was not the best option while his body was still recovering... Zero grabbed a hair pin on a desk near him and proceeded to pick the locks on his wrists. The locks lasted less than three seconds.

Louise watches as the locks on his wrists became undone and fell off to the floor. _'What is he? A master thief?'_ She was very surprised by the turn of event and had fallen silent, her anger momentarily forgotten. "How?" was all the mage in training managed to utter.

"Damn... spoiled brat..." The hunter muttered and proceeded to pick the lock on his neck and it too lasted less than three seconds.

Louise looked at the locks on the floor and slowly raised her head, her anger started to build once more. So what if he can pick a few locks? He is still her familiar and just a commoner, and he had caused her so much embarrassment these last few days that he deserved to be punished. In her defiance, Louise stared right in Zero's face or more specifically, his eyes. Then she froze; her survival instinct kicked in and her anger was replaced with fear almost instantly.

"Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière!" Zero bellowed, his tone icy, his eyes glaring. The legendary hunter watches in glee as Louise cowered in fear. This was how most people behave around him when he gets serious, and he had always enjoyed it, well to a certain degree anyway.

"Ye-Yes!" Louise managed in reply, temporary forgetting that he is her familiar, and he is a commoner, and that she is his master. This was the second time she saw her familiar with such murderous gaze. The first time was when he defended his name. Despite wanting to run away in screams of terror, she stood her ground and tried to act brave. She absolutely refused to bow down at the moment. That would be too much a blow to her pride. She would rather die.

"We need to talk," Zero continued his icy tone and was glaring at her. Despite his outward appearance, Zero was inwardly commending the girl, _'She has guts standing her ground.'_

Terrorizing a young girl is normally not his idea of fun but he will make an exception for her. He continued to glare and Louise gulped as she waits. It was so entertaining to watch her feeble attempts to act brave that Zero lost his anger. Still, he maintained his murderous gaze and decided to see how far he can push her, "Looks like it is time we lay some ground rules around here."

Once again, Zero pause and glared at Louise, making the atmosphere tense. Louise gulped and nodded in response, "First," Zero slowly move his murderous gaze from Louise to the shackles, "these are unacceptable."

Louise nodded slowly.

"As for my service to you, there will be limits," Zero had once again stared directly at Louise, his tone frozen. "Understand?!"

Louise gulped. Just as she was about to break under pressure, there was knock at the door followed by, "Miss Vallière's, this is Professor Colbert. Are you there? May I come in?"

* * *

Professor Colbert had just finished today's class and was heading to the infirmary/lab just like the pass few days. Ever since the Springtime Familiar Summoning a couple days ago, he'd been concerned and intrigued about the commoner that Louise summoned. Many questions surrounds the young man remains unanswered. Everything about him was a mystery.

As he walked through the corridors of the academy, he remembered how he first met the familiar. From no pulse to fully-healthy pulses was very odd. Then there was hibernation. He didn't believe anyone could accomplish such a feat until Louise told him of her familiar's unusual ability. She was afraid something went wrong with her familiar but he told her to wait and see as her familiar instructed. He had since checked with Louise for the pass couple of days: no pulse, no body heat, just as if he was dead. But then, there was no rotting of flesh either. The familiar did appear to be hibernating...

The familiar's damaged armor was also mysterious. It was of unique design and its material, unknown. It was the reason why he went to the lab these couple of days. The armor itself had clearly been damaged beyond repair: only parts and pieces remain. Of those remaining pieces, they were full of dents and cracks. Yet despite those damages, he was not able to break it apart for further studies. He had tried to use varies tools but was unable to put forth any further damage, not even a scratch.

Colbert's runic name was 'Colbert the Flame Serpent.' As his name suggested, fire magic was his specialty. When tools failed to produce result, he resorted to magic. He had started off with weak spells then gradually made them stronger. Finally, he had used the highest level of fire magic he knew and watched in amazement as the cracked armor piece survived the assault. Normal metals would have melted completely. Upon touching the piece, he was shocked to find that it wasn't even warm. The heat had somehow managed to dissipate almost instantly. When Colbert examined it, he was further surprised to find that his spell had failed to put forth any additional damage. He had never seen this kind of metal before.

Metal with such properties was beyond his understanding and probably any mages he knew. Still, Colbert had the help of an earth mage professor today. Hopefully, she would be able to provide a better insight on such strange metal.

"Hello, Professor Colbert, so are you ready to show me that strange metal you were talking about?" A short mid-aged woman with a pointy hat was waiting for him at the door of the infirmary/lab and greeted him.

"Ah, yes, Professor Chevreuse. This way," Colbert opened the door and led the way. "I had tried everything but this metal was beyond my knowledge." Colbert led his guest to the desk where the armor was placed and was surprised to find it missing.

"So, where is this metal you were talking about?" The earth mage questioned.

'_Where have the armor pieces gone?'_ Colbert's mind was racing. _'...Louise's familiar must have woke up and took it back,'_ he concluded. "It seems the owner came back and retrieved it."

"That is too bad, Professor Colbert. I was looking forward to see it." Chevreuse sounded a bit disappointed.

"I really wanted to show you too, Professor Chevreuse. Anyway sorry to have bothered you, but I have somewhere else to attend to. Good bye," Colbert promptly left the earth mage professor who sighed, then finally left as well.

-z-z-

Colbert left the infirmary/lab and was now heading toward the student dorm. The thought of seeing Louise's familiar excites him. As Colbert makes his way toward student dorm, he made a list of questions he wanted to ask. Then memories of the previous day hit him.

-Flashback Start-

_Colbert was doing some research in the Fenrir's Library. The familiar one of his student summoned two days ago was full of mysteries. Hibernation and strange armor were probably just the tip of the iceberg. He had also checked upon the two strange objects on his belt, but yielded no result. One was a small silver tube like some kind of sword handle and the other looked suspiciously like a gun. However, it held no bullet chamber anywhere making it look more of a strange looking toy gun instead. Currently though, he was looking into the unusual runes on the familiar's left hand. He had given up on the strange letters: Hakai no Kam Z.Ω.W.__MKII__._

_The normal up-to-date books on runes had yielded no result. Colbert had exhausted all his options and was forced to look up ancient texts. He levitated up to an out-of-reach shelf where ancient texts were kept and scanned for anything in particular. His gaze soon fell upon a very old and plain looking book titled 'Book of Runes'. What drawn his attention though was the author: Brimir Ru Rumiru Yuru Viri Vee Varutori. It was a book which held descriptions of familiar runes during Founder Brimir's time._

_Colbert opened and scanned the book for its contents. It only took several pages of flipping before he saw the unusual runes he was looking for. As he read the descriptions the runes, his eyes grew wide. His attention was focused on one particular paragraph and he had to read it a couple of times to make sure he was not mistaken. Each time he read, his excitement grew. He compared the runes on book with a sketch he'd made one last time, making sure he had not made any mistake, and left the library in hurry with the book in hand._

_His next destination was the Headmaster's Office._

_-z-z-_

_Once Colbert reached the Headmaster's Office, he thrown open the door with a slam and rushed inside; his excitement was too great to contain at the moment. "Old Osmond!" Colbert called._

"_What is it?" An old man with white beard and hair answered. He is currently on the ground, picking himself up._

"_Are you alright?" Seeing the old headmaster getting up from the ground had momentarily dampened Colbert's excitement. He was genuinely concern about the old man's health._

"_Oh, I am fine, although I wish someone would have helped this old man up instead..." The old man pouted at the other occupant across the room - a beautiful young lady in her twenties with green hair – with a pair puppy eyes._

_The beautiful lady in question sat at her desk and worked in silence, completely ignoring the old headmaster. From what Colbert could see, the woman's face was slightly flushed and had a little frown on her face. As Colbert watch Osmond dusted himself off, he came a conclusion and mentally sighed, 'Old Osmond must have done something inappropriate in front of Miss Longueville again...'_

_Deciding not to dwell on Miss Longueville and Headmaster Osmond's activities, Colbert tried to remember his purpose of coming here. Soon, he got excited all over again, "I have some big news!"_

"_There is no such thing as big news. Everything is but a collection of small events." the old headmaster lazily walked back to his desk._

"_Please take a look at this!" Colbert handed Osmond old book._

_The old mage opened the book to the page with a bookmark, "This is 'The Familiars of the Founder Brimir,' is it not? Why are you digging around old literature like this? If you have time to do that, why don't you think up some better ways of collecting school fees from those slacking nobles? Mister, err... What was it again?" Sir Osmond cocked his head looking pretty uninterested._

"_It's Colbert, Jean Colbert! You forgot?"_

"_Right, right. I remember now. It's just that you talked so fast I never really caught it. So, Colby, what's about it in this book?"_

"_Please take a look at this as well!" Colbert then handed him the sketch of the runes he had._

_An eyebrow was raised but Osmond's expression did not change. "So I see you have enjoyed art lessons too. Good for you," said Osmond, not entirely understanding his point._

_Shaking his head, Colbert elaborated, "It was not from a book."_

_The moment he heard that, Osmond's expression became serious. "Miss Longueville, would you please excuse us?"_

_Miss Longueville stood up and left the room._

_Osmond spoke only after he confirmed she was properly outside. "Please explain everything to me in detail, Mister Colbert."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

"_What about these strange letters?" asked the old headmaster as he pointed to 'Hakai no Kam Z.Ω.W._MKII___' on the drawing._

"_I was unable to find out the meaning behind them," Colbert sounded a little disappointed as he answers. "However, judging from these runes, Miss Vallière's familiar is likely the legendary Gandalfr, and he seems to be highly intelligent as well. He is definitely not just some ordinary commoner," Colbert concluded. His excitement soon came to a stop as he voiced his concerns, "He also seems very cautious of us... I just got this uneasy feeling of him ... I am not entirely sure if Miss Vallière can handle him."_

"_I see..." Osmond stopped and think for a moment. "Professor Colbert, please keep an eye on him and watch over Miss Vallière." At Colbert's node, the old headmaster add, "However, please do not interfere with them too much."_

"_But," Colbert begins but was cut off._

"_Despite Miss Vallière's 'ability', she is still a mage in our academy. She shall handle this on her own. We do not want to further complicate her studies here. As for her familiar, we shall wait and see before we take any action. I do not wish any misunderstanding arise from this 'Gandalfr'," said the old headmaster, still a bit doubtful of the whole 'Gandalfr' idea particularly because of the additional letters beside the runes. On a separate note, Osmond added, "As for his equipments, I will ask our new earth mage professor, Mrs. Chevreuse, to aid you on your research tomorrow and please keep this discussion a secret between us. I do not wish anyone to learn of this yet."_

_Colbert nodded and left the headmaster office. He decided to study a bit more about the ancient book of runes and return to the infirmary/lab._

-Flashback End-

Colbert finally arrived at the student dorm. Because of his conversations with old Osmond, Colbert had to reduce the number of questions he would like to ask. As Colbert walked along the corridors of the student dorm, he started to hear gossips about Louise's recent outburst.

"Who was that that Louise just dragged into her room?"

"Yeah, he was kind of cute, heehee."

"True, but Louise was in a bad mood. Oh the poor guy."

Colbert turned the corner and saw two of his top students: Kirche Zerbst and Tabitha. They too seemed to be talking about Louise and her familiar, and Colbert decided to listen in.

"Hmm, I didn't know Louise had a boyfriend. Damn, he was pretty too." Kirche was the taller girl with flaming red hair. She was currently talking her friend, Tabitha who had short blue hair.

"No," Tabitha shook her head. "Louise's familiar," she added quietly. She held a curved staff in one hand and a small book in another, her face was emotionless as usual as.

"That was Louise's familiar? No way. Her familiar was a commoner and he was a mess," Kirche expressed her doubt and folded her arms while glancing at her friend.

Tabitha shook her head, her eyes never leaving her book, and explained, "Long blond hair, black clothes. Louise's familiar."

"Wait, I thought his clothes were destroyed," Kirche pointed out and looked at her friend directly.

"Same clothes. Unique style," Tabitha answered coolly, still reading her book.

"Hmmm, interesting..." Kirche muttered. She appeared to be deep in thought, plotting something.

'_So, her familiar had really woken up,'_ Colbert noted to himself. Colbert passed the two girls and hurried to Louise's room. When he arrived, he knocked and said, "Miss Vallière's, this is Professor Colbert. Are you there? May I come in?"

Chapter End

* * *

AN: I don't really like this chapter. It's a little too serious and nothing much to laugh about but it is plot. Louise and Zero's interaction seems a little forced. However, I don't know how to improve it either so…

Anyway, the main thing here was to show the shaky start between Zero and Louise. Unlike Saito, however, Zero is not going to simply run away but it was part of FoZ and a chance to harass Louise (mentally) so it was made this way instead. Running away will lead to locks and chains thus it happened. However, due to my skill, it was done rather awkward I must admit. Oh well. As for Colbert's part, I was just following the plot. Again, you may take this as a frame work and write your own if you think it is not good enough. I will appreciate if you do.

Anyway next chapter will be a lot 'happier'...

Review if you wanted to.

Random things and answers to reviewers (or my ranting so please, just ignore me):

Why did Zero pick locks instead of breaking it? Well, the main reason was I don't want Louise to know of his inhuman strength yet. Thus a cheap excuse was employed instead.

As a reference, Zero's skill of materialize or dematerializing his armor came from 'Dimension Travel', a MM crossover. It's a good fic but not great, and it's very likely never going to be finish. Much like this one as I have no ending for it and who knows when I will be giving up…

Adel Mortescryche: Why, thank you. I really liked your word: indulgent. It's hilarious. I wonder if I could make something out of it. Can't think of any right now, but… hmmm…induullggennt.

ManaZero: X indeed. Although I was really looking forward to see if anyone from any other series would do. Currently thought, I can't think of many outside the ones I listed. As for techno transfer of any kind: If it was Saito, X, you or me, then yes. But when it came to Zero, then the answer is probably no. Reason is simple: because he is Zero; he just experienced what horrible things one madman could do with technologies... Unlike X who is generally optimistic, Saito who is naive, you or me who probably cannot survive without technologies, Zero is generally pessimistic and very paranoid. Walking the path of modernization had a lot of risks and I am not taking about sissy stuffs like global warming. I mean, look at us. We had 2 world wars and nukes today are still pointed at each other ready to be deployed at a moments notice. Look at Zero's world. It's dying. So yeah, I don't see Zero being willingly give them a helping hand and led them down that path. On a positive note, he won't stop them either. Ultimately, if technologies were to be introduced by him, chances are that they will be simple hand-craned technologies. Material science will probably do as well but engine designs will be unlikely.

Dis Lexic: Zero will not be wearing armor for the most part. After all, he's a civilian now. Armors just don't fit the story narrative especially his armor (when needed, he will have 'em). I hope that answers your question. Don't worry, Zero will be a badass. That won't change.

jetslinger333: The Guardians? Well, if I get far enough, sure. One of them, at least, will come and harass Zero. But, that will be farrr into the future like end of second season. I am barely halfway done with episode 3 of first season...

pltrgst: Ooh, you are back and thus a proper reply. Zero ooc? Well… Congratulation, you are correct. He does seem more happy than we remember… But then the Zero here is from the Zero series, so he's nowhere near as doom and gloom as he was in the later part of the X series. Although I didn't expect someone would call me out on it so early before my later chapters - which would be even more 'happy' and yes, I am well aware of the ooc problem - but I will use the same cheap excuse as 'Blade of Void' and that is: we never truly know what Zero is like during peaceful times, being a civilian and all. Therefore, I take this opportunity to explore and push around the boundary a little. There is a reason why I say he is like Kakashi. The ninja had two faces: the dead serious 'I-am-not-going-to-let-my-teammates-die' face (Zero's canon face) and the nonchalant 'walk-straight-into-Naruto's-crude-trap-and-thinks-nothing-of-it' face (Zero's ooc-ness you see here; he will use this face most of the time here as the setting is peaceful so…).

KH-Hardcorefan4483: Zero being too human? Well, those who underestimated Zero's humanity have clearly not look close enough...

However, one could not truly explain Zero's human nature without going through the X series, and I don't feel like giving out a lecture here (and how it could potentially put X's humanity to shame when compared side by side). My question to anyone reading this is: Do you really want me to give out such lecture? LOL

Anyway, trust me; I have nothing against X (He is just too plain when compared with Zero; blame Capcom). Don't believe me? How about we play a little game here? Have you heard of the 7 deadly sin (Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, and Sloth) and how it was often used to tie in with our humanity? Well…

Challenge: Try and associate X and Zero with the 7 deadly sins. Compare them and see what you got. I will post my view on this the next time I update. In the meanwhile, if you wish to take up the challenge and post it onto your review, short answers are fine. But in the case where you wanted to be more 'expressive', please do not give me ridiculous answers like: 'Because Dr. Light say so'. Seriously, you will only be embarrassing yourself (it would be like saying Obama-cannot-be-US-president-because-he-is-black; yeah, that kind of embarrassment)…

Well then, that's about it; see you next time…


	4. Chapter 4

Last time's challenge: 7 deadly sins for both X and Zero. Answers too long so it will be in ranting section…

* * *

Chapter 4: From Physics Teacher to Zero's Blunder(s)

"Miss Vallière's, this is Professor Colbert. Are you there? May I come in?"

Louise let loose a breath that she didn't know she was holding and went to open the door. "Hello, Mr. Colbert," she greeted her teacher at the door in relief.

"Hello, Miss Vallière. I came by to see if your familiar has awake. May I come in?"

"Yes, please come in Mr. Colbert," Louise said. She was no longer shaking.

Colbert entered the room and saw Zero was standing next to a desk. The familiar stared back at the professor calmly.

Colbert took a bit of time to study the familiar. All of Zero's previous injuries seemed to have vanished, not a single scar had left behind. He had his long hair tied behind his back, and he was quite handsome. Just as Tabitha have described, the familiar wore some kind of unique-styled black clothes that covered him from his neck down. A black belt ran across his waist. The black clothes somehow appeared brand new which wasn't the case at all a couple of days ago. Colbert began to ponder, _'How did he...?'_

Then something on the floor caught the professor's eyes - locks and chains - and his thought shifted, _'What in the name of Brimir had they been doing...?'_

"Hello, Professor Colbert, what brings you here?" Zero asked, breaking the silence.

"Hello, Zero. I was just checking to see if you are alright. How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, I am much better, professor," Zero walked to a near by chair and sat down.

"That's good to hear," the professor mirrored Zero's action, took a sit and observed while Louise choose to stand behind him closely. _'There is no mistake; his clothes are new, and he seems healthy as well. The strange looking tube and odd looking 'toy gun' in his belt are gone,' observed Colbert._

"Mind if I ask a few questions?" Colbert started.

"Sure," answered Zero calmly.

"Where did you come from?"

"I am from a small country call Neo Arcadia."

"I have never heard of such a place."

"That's because it was a small and remote country. Not many people go there and we don't go out much," Zero lied smoothly.

"What were you doing there?"

"I was fighting against a tyrant but was pushed off a cliff and ended up here," Zero decided to stick to his story, for now anyway. There was no need to tell them anything.

"I see..." Colbert could tell that he was pretty much making things up as he answers. Since he could not get anything further, Colbert decided to change the subjects, "The broken armor you have. Do you know who forged it? I have never seen such high level craftsmanship before. The metal used was very durable."

"Oh that, well, it was unique to our village only and I don't know what they use to make it. The blacksmiths were very secretive of their crafts," Zero lied again.

"I was going to study the armor this afternoon but it was gone. Did you take it back?" Colbert decided to ask squarely. Beating the bush seems to go nowhere with this one.

"Yes I did," Zero answered. Knowing where this was going, the hunter explained before Colbert could ask further, "The armor needed to be kept in a specific condition for it to be repaired later so I stored it away."

"I could help you look after it," Colbert began, "Just tell-"

"Nah, I have it under control. But thank you for your offer anyway," and Zero cut him off.

That crushed Colbert's hope of ever seeing that armor again. Seeing that the familiar had once again avoided most of his questions, the professor had no choice but to keep a close eye on him for the days ahead. Colbert got up and prepares to leave but turned and said, "Well then, I guess I shall leave. If you needed any help, you can come find me." Perhaps the familiar would change his mind and open up to him. If not now, then maybe later, hopefully.

"Before you go, I have a question of my own," Zero said. It was a good chance to ask an experience mage so he went for it. "Is there a way to un-summon me and return me back to where I came from?"

"No, once the contract between a summoner and the familiar is complete, their bond is forever," Colbert said plainly, as if it was a matter of fact.

"I see..."

Seeing the familiar was a bit trouble by it, Colbert added, "If you needed to check on your home country, all you needed is ask. I can look into it for you. Where is Neo Arcadia located?"

"Never mind, it wasn't important," Zero replied.

"Well then, goodbye Zero, Miss Vallière," sighed Colbert and left.

During the exchanges between her familiar and her professor, Louise had regained all of her composure. She now sat at where Colbert sat moments ago and glared at Zero. "Why did you lie to Mr. Colbert?"

"How do you know I was lying?" Zero laid back into his chair and relaxed as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Everyone can tell you are hiding the truth!" Louise, feeling proud, folded her arms and raised her chin as she stared accusingly at Zero.

The reploid sighed, "Was it really that obvious?"

"Humph!" was her answer as she turned her head to her side. Now that Zero was pretty laid back and no longer glaring at her with those murderous gaze, Louise felt very confident. "You still haven't answered my question."

"It wasn't something important and you guys don't need to know," Zero answered lazily and muttered an afterthought, "...not that you would be able to understand anyway."

Not able to understand? Louise was offended. Honestly, what possibly knowledge can a commoner possess that a noble wouldn't understand? Louise voiced her opinion, "Hey, don't underestimate our intelligent, you commoner!"

Zero raised an eyebrow at Louise as she tried to stare him down. So she wanted a challenge. He decided to give her one. Zero turned around and finds a feather pen, some ink, and a piece of paper. He began writing down some highly advance mathematical equations and said, "This is a '_powerful spell_' created by a young girl a few years older than you. It stopped '_hunger_' in our kingdom. She was praised as our savior."

"A spell that stops hunger?" Louise sounded doubtful. But when Zero handed her the paper, she snatched it. "Hah, as if that would pose a challenge to me!" She proclaimed and began to read. What was written on the piece of paper looked a lot like mathematical equations; but with more than half of the symbols used she had never seen before, she had no clue what it mean.

Zero watched her struggles in silent. What was written on the piece of paper was just the introduction to Ciel's energy theory. To people of this world though, it might as well be an alien language.

Louise looked over at Zero and found him relaxing on his chair with a smug on his face as if he knew she wouldn't be able to understand any of it. That pissed her off. She refused to admit her short coming and let him laughed at her. Still, no matter how long she stared at the paper, she had no clue what it means. "E equals m c two...?" She muttered, looking at the top simpler portion of some very complex equations.

"That is 'E equals m c square'." Zero corrected her. When she looks over at Zero, he smirked. "Giving up yet?" he taunted.

"Of course not. I just have never seen these symbols before. Once I learn what they are, I will understand this in no time," Louise replied with false confident. She was not really sure if she would be able to understand such a 'spell'. She was not sure if such a '_spell_' even exists. But first, she will need to know the symbols and their meanings. Well, if she had no idea what they were, she will just have to ask. She was sure she could figure it out once he explain it; and if he was to make things up again, she would catch it. "Therefore, you are going to explain all these symbols to me," she demanded. And if she was to get a headache from all of this, she will make sure he gets one as well.

'_This will be a long day...'_ Zero mentally sighed and began to explain what each symbol means.

...

...

...

"And that is how these two parts fit together," Zero ended up lecturing her advance physics and mathematics the whole day. As Louise yawned tiredly, the reploid responded, "It's getting late. You should get some rest."

Louise agreed. She had made tremendous progress but still understood only about a quarter of what's written there. The more she thought about the 'spell' though, the more confused she gets. She never thought it would be that hard. It was getting late and she had classes tomorrow morning so it was a good time to stop.

Louise stood, walked over to a drawer and fetched a nightgown. She began to strip and put on her nightgown, completely indifferent to Zero's presence.

Zero turned away from her at once and mentally sighed, _'If she had summoned a pedophile instead...'_

On her way to her bed, Louise stepped on something. She took a look. It was the chains and shackles she had used on him earlier. As she continued her way to her bed, a nagging question began to form so she asked, "Zero, are you a former thief?"

"Excuse me?" Zero asked and Louise pointed to the locks and chains on the ground. "Tch, anyone can pick those cheap locks. Its design was too simple," Zero explained nonchalantly but warned, "I hope you are not thinking about that again."

Louise gulped and immediately snuggled into bed, wrapping a blanket around herself. "Damn... Guiche... cheap stuff..." She cursed quietly.

'_So it was someone named 'Guiche' that taught her to lock people up...'_ Zero noted. He got up from his chair and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Louise poked her head out of her blanket and asked.

"Go to sleep. I am taking a night walk. I will be back by morning," Zero answered and left. Louise was tired and fell asleep soon afterward.

-z-z-

Zero needed a break. Being a teacher was surprisingly difficult. He was trying to find a secluded place where he could organize his thoughts. It was late at night so he didn't encounter many and most left him alone. That was until a curly blonde lover-boy trying to impress his chestnut haired girlfriend.

"Hey, aren't you Louise's familiar?" lover-boy stated with a smug on his face as if he was somehow superior.

"Make it quick, boy. I don't much have time for you," Zero rolled his eyes. He had considered ignoring lover-boy here but something in his voice just prompted him to respond.

"Humph! I should have known a commoner wouldn't know how to speak with a noble," lover-boy was trying to look self important.

"Nobles? Ha, as if you met the standard, boy," Mr. lover-boy was clearly stunned by that. As he tries to come up with a comeback, Zero walked past him and said, "If you got nothing else to say, goodbye, boy." The boy recovered and threw in some comments, trying to impress his girl but Zero had already left.

-z-z-

It didn't take long for the hunter to find a secluded place high up in one of the tower. Zero lay down, relaxed, and watched the tranquil night sky. The legendary reploid began to think about the day's events and plot his next move.

It all boiled down to two scenarios. One, he was in a comma and this was nothing but a dream. The second scenario was that magic do exist and he was brought to this world by it. Since he could do nothing about the first scenario, he would have to regard his current situation as the second. If magic had brought him here, then there should be magic that could send him back. He will just have to find it and of course he was right inside a magic academy. Although, he thought, research wasn't really his thing, especially when it comes to fairy tale stuffs like magic...

Anyway, now that he decided to stay and find his way back, he would have to deal with the 'locals'. Louise, his '_master_', immediately came to mind. Sucking up to that little brat was not necessary something he wanted, but she might be the key to send him back. After all, she did got him here. Plus if he was to stay, it would help to have a place to stay in and Louise could provide that. Too bad he wasn't able to establish some '_ground rules_' with her. Then again, he could just glare at her and she would freeze so at least dealing with her won't be tough for the time being. But who knows when his stone-cold glare would stop being effective...

The next person or persons on his list of concerns would be Colbert and his associates. He knew they were watching him and they would continue to watch him. He sensed that they were surprisingly interest in him despite labeling him a 'commoner'. Really, there's nothing '_common_' about him...

Even if they have no malicious intent, it would be foolish to reveal who he was or what he was capable of. Telling them where he came from was not an option either. After all, his presence here and background could potentially destabilize the world. That is not something he could accept. For the time being, he would just have to be cautious and stay below the radar.

Zero spent the rest of the night thinking on how to move forward with his task.

* * *

"Wake up, Louise. It's morning," Zero said as he walk over to the window and pull away the curtains, illuminating the room.

"Hmmm, five more minutes... E equals... square..." Louise mumbled in her sleep.

"Heh, it's a good thing that you took yesterday's lessons to your heart, but you really should wake up soon and get ready for the day. Look, your fellow classmates are already up and gathering around the courtyard," Zero said in an amusing tone while looking out the window.

Louise rise up and scrub her eyes lazily, trying to clear her vision. She vaguely saw a figure by the window from the corner of her eye. She stretched and yawned unwarily before grumpily asked, "Who are you?"

"Huh?" Zero was surprised to hear that. So he was a stranger now? And this was how she reacts to having a stranger in her room? The level of her reaction, or inaction, amused Zero to no end. _'Wow really, how injudicious can she be? Life here must be extremely easy for her.'_ He didn't know if he should commend her bravery or reprimand her naivety. Once again, she reminded Zero how vulnerable she truly was.

"Oh right, you are my familiar," Louise said to herself. "What time is it?" Louise asked while she stretched and yawned.

"It's eight fifteen," Zero answered looking at a grandfather clock in the corner of her room.

"What! I only have fifteen minutes! Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" Louise bolted up immediately as Zero walked back into the center of the room, watching her in amusement. As Louise began to unbutton her nightgown, Zero turned away from her as usual. "Get me my clothes and underwear. They are at the lowest and second lowest drawers," Louise barked her order.

Zero lazily walked over and pulled out the lowest drawer. Inside was packed full of pink laced underwear. Grabbing a pair at random, he threw it over his shoulder without looking and closed the drawer.

As the reploid open the second drawer and retrieve her uniform, Louise quickly put on her underwear. "Clothes," she demanded impatiently.

Now that Louise was at least in her underwear, Zero turned and walked back to her with the uniform. As Zero offers her the uniform, Louise turned her back to him, stretching out her arms to either sides. They both stood there for a few seconds before Louise impatiently asked for her clothes again.

"Here are your clothes," Zero offered, completely clueless to her demands.

"Dress me," she commanded irritably.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to dress yourself," Zero said.

"Of course I do!" Louise said defensively as she turned back to face him, an irritated glare decorated her face. As Zero raised an eyebrow at her, Louise explained proudly, although her tone sounded a bit irritated at the same time, "Nobles, like me, does not dress themselves when a servant is present."

"Oh, is that so?" Zero replied coolly.

"Humph!" Thinking that he understood his role as her servant, Louise turned around and resumed her previous posture once again, fully expecting to be dressed.

A few seconds passes and nothing happens. She turned around only to find Zero at the door and her clothes on a chair. Before she could say anything, Zero walked out the door and reminded her nonchalantly, "You better hurry and get dressed or you will be late."

"Zerooo!" Louise roared but he had already closed the door and went outside. She promise herself that she would punish him later, but she really have no time to waste so she dressed herself quickly and left her room.

* * *

"As punishment for being disrespectful to your master: No food for you until I am satisfy with your behavior," Louise threaten triumphantly. She had somehow managed to get to class on time while dragging Zero along with her. However, the same couldn't be said about her attire. A few buttons have gotten mismatched and her blouse was not properly tucked in. Luckily for her, the cloak she wore prevented much of the details from being seen but if one was to take a closer look... She also had little time to comb her hair, resulting in a bit of a mess.

"Sure, sure," Zero replied impassively. That infuriated Louise even more but the reploid simply ignored her. As Louise scolds him, Zero inattentively scanned the lecture hall. Most students were whispering and giggling among themselves. Their main topic seemed to be Louise and him. Then he saw a fairly tall girl with flaming red hair smiling sweetly in their direction. He watched in boredom as she approaches. She had a strong flirtatious aura. Her face was attractive, and she sported a captivating bust line. Her breasts were round and fully developed, enough to make most men bow in worship. The top two buttons of her blouse were undone; highlighting an impressive cleavage which would impulsively drew in men's eyes. Her skin was tanned, giving her the look of healthy and natural beauty.

"Good morning, Louise," The beauty greeted properly.

"Good morning, Kirche!" Louise tried but ended up hissing with her reply. She knew it wasn't lady-like but she was in no mood to act like one at the moment.

A smug smirk adored Kirche's captivating face. She had not missed Louise's messy attire and knew she was in a bad mood. "Bad hair day, Louise?" She pointed at Louise's messy hair, continued down slowly to her mismatched buttons and all the way to her waistline where part of her blouse was sticking out. In a smug tone, she added, "I didn't see you in breakfast this morning."

Louise did a few quick claws to her hair and used her cloak to cover herself as she fixed her blouse. "Humph! I was on a diet today," she retorted. That was right. Because she had woken up late, she missed breakfast and it was all her familiar's fault!

"Right," Kirche replied skeptically. She, then, walked pass and ignored an infuriated Louise, and stood in front of Zero. She introduce herself flirtatiously, "Hi there, handsome. My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst or Kirche the Ardent. What's your name?"

Before Zero have a chance to reply, the teacher walked into the room. "Alright everyone, settle down. Class is about to begin." The teacher was a middle-aged bald man wearing a green robe. He noticed Zero as he scan the room and asked, "Who are you, young man?"

"He is my familiar, Mr. Pauluse," Louise answered respectfully.

The professor looked at him in surprise but then he recovered quickly. Putting on a face of un-interest, he said, "Oh, well why don't you come down here and introduce it to everyone."

'_It?'_ Zero mentally sighed.

"Ye-Yes, Mr. Pauluse," Louise nodded reluctantly and dragged Zero by his arm to the front of the classroom. "This is my familiar. He is a 'knight'," Louise boasted, trying to make him sound a little bit more impressive than just a commoner. She had omitted the 'magical' part because he can't perform any but the knight part could still be true, she reasoned.

"See, I told you that was Louise's familiar."

"What odd clothes he has."

"Tee hee, his hair looks nice."

"Nah, it made him look girly."

"Louise said he is a knight."

"What are you talking about? He is no knight. He is just a commoner."

"Why is that, Guiche?"

'_So Mr. Curly-Blond Romeo's name is Guiche,'_ Zero noted.

"That is it, everyone; settle down," Mr. Pauluse said. He then turned to Louise and asked, "Does it have a name?"

"Er..." Louise hesitated.

Once again, Zero was referred to as an 'it' and he mentally sighed. Setting the issue aside and focus at the current task, he introduced himself, "Hello everyone, my name is Zero."

Laughter erupted from the students once again. That caused Zero to raise an eyebrow as he scan around the room. All the boys were laughing hard while most girls were giggling. The teacher was frowning. Kirche and a few other girls were giving him a look of sympathy or perhaps pity; he couldn't tell. Then there was a blue haired girl next to Kirche who was more interested in reading her book. And finally, Louise's face was flushed with embarrassment or perhaps anger. Her gaze was constantly shifting between the floor and her classmates but landed upon him at last which turned into a full-blown angry glare. Her cheeks were puffed and her hands had balled into tiny fists resting on both sides of her waist. Very cute was the only impression Zero had of her, and he found himself trying very hard not to laugh.

"Hahaha, his name is Zero."

"That is so Louise. Louise the Zero, hahaha."

"Alright everyone, settle down. Class is about to begin," Mr. Pauluse said. He turned back to Louise and said, "Go back to your sit. Class is about to start."

Louise nodded. She held her head high but her hands were still balled into fists and her face was still flushed with embarrassment as she walked back to her sit. Once she sat down however, her shoulders slumped a bit, and she let loose a sigh as her hands relaxed.

Zero followed and observed her in silent. _'Heh, she trying to look strong in front of her peers,'_ Zero mused.

As Zero find his sit beside Louise, Kirche from a row behind spoke, "Don't worry about it, Zero. A name is just a name. Although, Louise should have picked a better one."

'_Aw, is she trying to cheer me up? Why, how nice of her,'_ Zero thought amusingly. "Don't blame Louise. Zero is my name," the reploid defended nonchalantly. "Beside, it was refreshing to have people merely laugh at it instead of fleeing in terror," Zero (half) joked. It was unfortunate that people do flee in terror when they heard of his impending arrival...

'_Huuh? Flee in terror? That was an interesting statement,'_ Kirche mused. No matter how she looked, the man does not resemble anything terrifying. On the contrary, he was pretty enough to draw in a crowd of women. Of course she had no idea how truly terrifying the legendary maverick hunter could be...

Louise turned around angrily. "Shut up!" she hissed. That effectively ended their conversation as Mr. Pauluse began his lesson soon afterward.

* * *

Louise and her fellow classmates finally have their break from class. Zero, for the most part, was found asleep. After all, what was the point in learning literature or some obscure history/mythology that he wouldn't understand anyway? How noble should behave or basic mathematics was utterly useless as well. The only thing he learned was the general classification of mages: dot, line, triangle, and square.

It was noon. Louise had skipped breakfast earlier and she's now hungry. Still, she had some '_business_' to take care of before heading for lunch. She signaled Zero to follow her and they reached her dorm shortly. Once they were inside her room, she announced triumphantly, "I am heading off to lunch right now. You have disobeyed me; therefore, you shall have no lunch." She observed his reaction. He simply stared at her boringly. That was not the reaction she had expected. But then she remained calm and thought of something else. She gathered all the clothes she wore last night, including her underwear, blouse, skirt, and a few more articles of clothes and shoved them into Zero's arms. She commanded authoritatively, "You are to wash these while I eat."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have maids for that?"

"Yes, but since you are nothing but a freeloader here, you might as well help them out." Louise watched as Zero wince a bit at that. She smirked at him in glee. Her familiar was not impervious after all and she felt she had finally score a major victory over him.

"Okay, okay, I will do it," Zero said.

"O-k?" Louise sounded puzzled.

"It's a '_commoner's_' way of saying alright," explained Zero.

"Humph! Stupid commoners and their unrefined vocabulary," Louise muttered. "You better be back when I am back," Louise said triumphantly as she left her room in high spirit, leaving behind a Zero with an armful of clothes.

Zero stared at the clothes and began to think about what to do them. He soon realized that he had no idea on how to do laundry. During his short time in the Resistance, he had always worn his armor. It needed little maintenance. All he had to do to clean it up was to step into a shower and everything would come off. From what little pieces of memories he had during his 'Hunter Era', he never did laundry either. In the earlier years, they do have clothes of different kinds but he rarely wore them. Beside, the Hunters probably had worker drones and machines to take care of them. In the later years, he did not need to wear them because a holographic function that can change into all kind of clothes for a little energy was introduced to his system. Sadly, that system was currently not available. While the Resistance may carry such a system, he had never asked for it as it was of no importance. Anyway, he did not recall a single time where he had to do his own laundry and was now puzzled at what to do with them. In the end, he decided to ask for help. After all, there are a whole lot of maids around.

-z-z-

Zero set out to look for a maid while carrying Louise's clothes in his arms. It did not took him long to find one. "Excuse me, miss," Zero asked and the maid turned around who happens to be Siesta. "Hello Siesta, do you know where I could do these laundries?" the reploid asked politely.

"Hello Zero-san," Siesta greeted. "Um, you don't have to do that. It is our job to do these laundries," the lovely maid pointed out.

"It's okay, I will do them," Zero said.

"O-k?" she muttered but then dismissed the thought as he continued talking.

"I don't feel right not doing anything around here," explained the reploid. Being branded a freeloader had put forth more damaged to his psyche than he would admit.

"Um, alright Zero-san. This way," said the ever sweet Siesta as she led the reploid outside through some kind of back door. "Here we are," said the maid.

Once outside, Zero spotted a number of wooden basins stacked neatly together in a corner along with some wooden boards next to a well. He had no idea what to do with the clothes in his hand. After all, there was no such thing as a laundry machine with the convenience of simply pushing a button and have everything done for you. "Err, could you show me how to wash them? I have never done this before," the legendary hero said sheepishly.

"Um, I could do them for you," Siesta offered, her tone a little unsure.

"No, no, I will to do them," Zero said politely.

"Um, alright. First, we need some water," said the maid. As she approaches the well, Zero was there to help. Siesta thanked him politely to which Zero dismissed politely. She stared at him while he smiled back at her warmly with the bucket of water still in his hand. A few seconds passed and she turned away abruptly, her face burning red-hot. She walked hastily to the pile of wooden basins to which Zero followed close behind. "Uh, ...put... water in here," she stuttered. In her distracted state, she lost her balance while retrieving a top wooden basin and fell backward. Luckily, Zero was there to stop her fall and steady her footing.

"Are you okay?" Zero politely asked and smiled warmly.

"Okay...?" she let her thought slip. Although she had never heard of the word, she could have easily figure out the meaning from its context. But really, her mind was preoccupied by how handsome her savior was...

Zero recognized the kind of gaze Siesta was giving him, and he mentally cursed himself. Really, he had no intention to charm the girl. He just wanted to learn how to do the laundry. His better than average look combine with his gentlemen gesture proved to be too much for her, it seems. Even so, he can't change back to his stoic self at the moment. He still needs her help after all. It would be rude, and the sudden change in personality may cause him to be seen as an odd ball - something he wanted to avoid if he was to '_blend in_'. "Shall we continue?" Zero asked, trying to keep a friendly smile in place - an awkward-friendly-smile at this point. When this is over, he would have to avoid her for a while and let her '_cool down_'.

His words had brought her back to reality and she blushed profusely. "Ri-right," she stuttered and quickly put the wooden basin on the ground. Zero poured the bucket of water into the wooden basin and went back to the well to get some more water. Siesta kneeled beside the wooden basin as she watched him drew more water from the well. She was mesmerized by how easy it seems he was able to draw the heavy bucket of water and the powerful strides he took toward her. His long golden hair flew slightly in the breeze, giving him an aura of beauty and grace.

After pouring two buckets of water, the wooden basin was filled to a decent amount. Siesta was staring and she seemed to be in her own little world. Seeing that, Zero mentally sighed. He coughed lightly to get her attention and asked if that was enough water, indicating the water in the wooden basin.

The cough was enough to get her to focus again and she answered, "O-Oh... that's good enough." She was blushing mad. She scrambled for the clothes next to her and mentally berated herself for her behavior as her temperature kept rising uncontrollably.

Zero simply watched in amusement as the girl tried to hide her embarrassment through work. At this rate, she would have done all the laundries for him. "Relax, Siesta and please explain to me what to do," Zero said calmly.

"A-Ah," Siesta took a deep breath and calmed a bit then she proceeded to explain, "First, you soak the clothes in water." Her blush was still in place but at least she managed to not let it hindered her. She got up and retrieved a wooden board and a bar of soap. She walked back and kneeled in front of the laundries again and continued her explanation, "Then, you apply some soap to the clothes and started to scrub it hard against the washing board quickly." She began to wash the skirt she's holding. "Once you wash every spot and rinse it clean, then you twist it with all your might to get rid of any water," the maid said as she did what she just explains. "Once there's no more water coming out, you then can hang it over there and let it dry," the maid pointed to an open area a bit further away where there were some poles connected by ropes. "You may need to change water if it gets too dirty and apply more soap if needed," she said as she gather two more wooden basins and laid it near Zero and put the skirt she had just washed in one of them.

'_Apply soap, and then quickly scrub it against the board hard, twist with all your might to get rid of excessive water and hang the thing. Looks easy,'_ thought Zero. "This looks easy. Thanks, Siesta. I think I can handle it," Zero thanked Siesta and sent her away.

Once Siesta left, Zero began his work. He had a feeling something went amiss when he heard a tearing sound but he choose to ignore it and continue his work in hopes of getting it done quickly. Scrub it quick and hard as instructed, Zero kept going even as the washing board was making some creaking noise. Twisting them with a fraction of his strength - he fully knew that not too many materials can withstand his full might; he's not stupid - he heard some more weird noises. Once again, he chose to ignore it and threw them along with the finished pile of clothes. By the time he was nearly done, the washing board was making a lot of creaking sound, and for the first time, he notice there were some small pieces of cloth floating in the water. At this point, he knew something had gone very wrong but he failed to stop one last hard scrub on the wooden board. Finally, the poor board was unable to take the harsh punishment any longer and snapped in half. Zero looked at the broken board and a sense of dread was developing. Something had gone horribly wrong. While he stared at the broken board, he subconsciously started to twist the water out of the last piece of clothe in his hands. Unfortunately, he forgot to check his strength and used a bit too much of it...

"You can pour the dirty water..." Siesta said as she came back and was just in time to watch in horror as Zero snapped a piece of clothe in half.

Then there was utter silence as Siesta gawked at Zero in disbelief, and he just stared at the two halves of clothe in his hand. Something went terribly wrong indeed. "What have you been doing? I was only away for two minutes," the maid approached Zero quickly and saw the mayhem. There was a broken washing board and pieces of cloth were floating in the water. Other clothes seemed to have been washed and were gathered on the wooden basins she got earlier.

"Er, it seems I used a bit too much strength," Zero replied sheepishly.

Siesta went and checked on the other clothes he had washed and discovered that all of them have various holes in them and the fabrics have deteriorated to such a level that they seemed to have been worn for more than ten years. "What are we going to do, Zero-san? They are too badly damaged. I can't fix this. If Miss Louise finds out..." Siesta sounded worried.

"Don't worry. I will take care of it," Zero said confidently.

"But-"

"Everything will be okay. I promised," Zero reassured Siesta confidently and flashed her one of those silly grins while putting his thumbs-up. Seriously, he looked like a complete idiot.

Siesta had to bite into her lip trying hard not to laugh but was failing at it. Once she began to laugh, Zero joined her and they both spent a minute laughing wholeheartedly. Afterward, she somehow felt a lot less worry.

"We should start cleaning this mess," said Zero after they both calm down a bit. Siesta nodded and poured the dirty water down a trench that led to a gutter. Zero retrieved the only piece of clothe that Siesta had washed - and therefore not damaged - and hang it up to dry. After they finished cleaning and exchange gratitude, they went their separate way.

'_Ahh, the wonders of laundry machines. Whoever invented it should receive one of those Nobel Peace Prize or something,'_ Zero thought as he make his way back to Louise's room.

* * *

In the end, Louise left Zero alone after she went to lunch and never came back to pick him up. Now, she had just finished all of her classes and made her way to her room. Once she went inside, she discovered Zero lying on her bed covered with books; one of which was opened and was currently sitting on his face. Such a sight irritated her. "Zero! Get up!"

Zero sat up, causing the books on him to fell and scattered throughout her bed, and greeted, "Oh, hey Louise, you are back."

"Who gave you permission to lay on my bed?!"

Zero rolled his eye and casually said, "Well, you never say I couldn't. Stop fussing over every little thing, Louise."

His comments predictably infuriated Louise. She went on unleashing her rage and scolded him, "Why you ungrateful commoner! Who is the one giving you shelter here?! Who is the one taking care of you?! I am your master! You better show me more respect! And clean up this mess!"

"Yes, yes your majesty," Zero replied sarcastically and started to pick up the books around him. He shove the books back into the shelf where he picked them up from and put them back in the order they were found. Louise was glaring at him and had her hands on the side of her waist trying to look imposing. To many, she may looked imposing but Zero simply found her expression to be irresistibly entertaining.

When he was done with arranging the books, Louise went back to scold Zero for his disrespectful attitude. Zero, on the other hand, simply tune down his sound receptors and watch Louise in amusement. He had a faint smile in place and would occasionally nod; but in reality, he didn't hear a word she said.

Louise kept scolding and Zero kept enjoying the moment, and it lasted for a few minutes until there was a knock on the door followed by a servant's call, "Miss Louise, you have a package."

Louise stopped her scolding and headed for the door. She opened the door, received the package, and thanked the servant. Coming back with the package, she tossed it to Zero. "Change into this," she commands. She had ordered some clothes for him. After all, his current set of clothes simply looked weird. She will not let his weird sense of fashion be associated with her. For that reason alone, she had prepared him with a high class butler's clothing.

Zero opened the package and found some black clothes and a pair of black boot in there. He raised an eyebrow at that but took the package with him as he walked pass Louise.

"Where are you going?"

"Go change," was his reply as he left for a bathroom.

* * *

"Be grateful that I brought you here. Normally, a commoner like you would never set foot in Alvíss Dining Hall," Louise said proudly. It had been a few days since he arrived here and she had yet seen him eat anything. Although he was still rather rude and disrespectful, he had at least started to listen to her command so she thought it was time to give him something to eat as a reward. Not that she worried he would starve to death of course, she reminded herself.

To say the Alvíss Dining Hall was grand was an understatement. It was at least three stories high and was as big as Copy X's chamber. Inside was column-less, giving it an open and grand view of the place. It had smooth white marble floor and spotless white walls. There were many large windows that were currently opened, letting in the gentle night breeze. One can watch the night sky by the window. Each window was decorated with beautiful golden frames and had golden laced red curtains folded neatly to its sides. Aside from the large door that he came in, there were a few smaller doors in the back of the room. Large long wooden tables covered by large white sheets of table cloth were set inside with generous spacing. Each student occupied a sit with enough space to stretch out both their arms and not touching one other. Candles were numerous along the walls, tables, and chandeliers high up hanging in the ceiling. Combine, they illuminated the huge room. And Zero immediately saw a major flaw in the design. _'This place looks great but it was so prone to fire, it wasn't even funny,'_ thought Zero.

"What are you waiting for? Pull out my chair, you incompetent familiar," Louise crossed her arms, tilted her head and frowned while tapping her foot impatiently.

Zero sighed and rolled his eyes as he pull out her chair. _'The things I had to put up with...'_ he thought.

"Humph, that's more like it," Louise said and sat down. She felt much better now. Seeing that Louise had calmed down, Zero went next to her and grabbed an empty chair. He was about to sit down when she spoke, "What are you doing? These sits are reserve for nobles only; you can't sit there. You are to stand behind me only."

'_Seriously, what the hell am I doing here!?'_ Zero mentally asked himself as he lazily walked behind Louise and stood.

Servants were beginning to serve food to the nobles. Louise received her food. It looked rather extravagant and more than she could eat.

"Oh, Great Founder Brimir, and our Lady Queen, we thank you for this humble meal that you provided us this evening," the harmonious prayer sounded through the hall. Louise joined in as well, closing her eyes.

"... there's nothing humble about this meal. It's practically a banquet," Zero mumbled to himself.

"What did you say?" Louise turned around and glared at him.

"Nothing," the reploid replied.

"Humph." She turned back to her food. Then a servant approached nervously and gave her a rather plain looking loaf of bread on a plain looking dish that simply looked out of place when compared with her earlier dishes. Louise dismissed the servant and took the dish with that plain looking bread and passed it over to her familiar. "Here is your dinner. Be grateful to me, your master," she said, rubbing in the master part.

Zero took the bread and examined it a bit. It was hard and dry, a clear sign it had been baked a while ago. It was slightly burnt too. Upon further inspection, molds were starting to form on its outer edge. It'd been baked quite a while ago indeed. All in all, it wasn't meant for human consumption but he wasn't human. _'Well, food is food,'_ Zero thought as he peeled away the molded layer and ate the whole thing without a second thought. While his energy reserve will rise over time even if he did nothing, food of any kind will help it rise a bit faster. Any help on that was welcome as it meant his recovery will hasten.

Louise watched as Zero gobble up the loaf of bread. _'Does it taste that good or was he really that hungry?'_ Louise thought. She couldn't tell. She had ordered more than she could eat and requested a poor quality loaf of bread specifically for him because she was still a bit mad at him. She had expected that he would complain about it, and she would use that as a bargaining chip against him. She had never expected him to not complain and ate it whole. She decided to ask, "How was your bread?"

"Meh, I had worse," Zero replied honestly. The Resistance weren't exactly known for good food, especially when he first joined them. After all, they were more concern about staying alive back then. After Copy X's defeat, he baited Neo Arcadia for a whole year alone. During those times, food was scarce or nonexistent. He had to scavenge for whatever that was available and sometimes consumed 'edible' energy cores from defeated enemies to replenish his own energy need. Needless to say, moldy bread wasn't the worst thing he ever ate...

"Humph," was Louise's reply as she quietly dug into her food. She can't help but wondered what kind of life he had before he came here. Then she remembered what he had told her: a warrior fighting against a tyrant. He must have had quite a hard life, she imagined. She suddenly developed sympathy for him and felt guilty over the loaf of bread. But only a little, she reminded herself and shook her head.

"What's the matter, Louise? Your food is not tasting good tonight?" Kirche pointed at a number of dishes that Louise had not touch as she walked over all the while dragging a huge cart with expensive looking food with her. Once she closed the distance, she flashed a seductive smile at Zero. _'Wow he's even prettier in that butler clothing. I can't wait to enslave him under my smoldering passion,'_ she thought confidently and started imagining '_things_' she would do with him and Louise's reactions to the '_stuffs_' they do.

"What do you want, Kirche?" Louise narrowed her eyes. Her sudden sympathy for her familiar was put on hold as she saw the way Kirche was eyeing him.

Kirche snapped out of her imagination, put on a charming smile and spoke, "Hi Zero, I had ordered a bit too much food and I was wondering if you would like to join me." Her tone was seductive, her smile was honey sweet, and her chest was puffed out proudly for all to see. At the same time, she ignored Louise's presence, getting the girl all riled up.

Before Zero could response, Louise got up from her chair and stood between Zero and Kirche, effectively blocking any of Kirche's attempts to physically get any closer to her familiar. Not wanting to lose out, Louise puffed out her own flat chest in defiance. In effect, she looked like a mother hen trying to protect her chick from danger. It was so hilarious that Zero had to try really hard not laughing out loud.

"I already gave him food and he had already ate so he declines your offer," Louise answered for him as she put her hands on her hips trying to stare down her eternal rival.

"I wasn't asking you, Louise," Kirche dismissed Louise coolly and continued her offer seductively, "How about it, Zero? Would you like to join me?"

"Er..." Suddenly both girls' attention was focused solely on him. He took a second to weight his options. On one hand, he really wanted to eat some real food. Although, by the look she was giving him right now, Kirche wasn't about to end this with a simple dinner, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go any further than that. Of course if he did took up her offer, his life with Louise will be hellish later on, which could proved to be amusing in itself... Anyway, if he decline, Louise will felt triumphant over Kirche and his life with her will be much easier. She will gain more confident, which can get to her head. But more importantly, he will lose his chance to taste some good food and he also have to come up of a skillful way parry Kirche's offer as not to appeared being rude. Decisions, decisions...

Just as Zero was about to make up his mind, he caught sight of a huge red lizard slowly approaching Kirche from behind while chewing on a huge steak. What caught his attention was the creature's tail. "Oh no, the poor thing's tail is on fire!" Zero exclaimed. Without a second thought, Zero grabbed a glass of water from the table and spewed it over the creature's 'burning tail'.

Both Louise and Kirche were stunned at his sudden outburst but not the lizard. It dodged the incoming danger and jumped to the side, knocking the food cart Kirche had brought to the ground. It assumed an aggressive stance and growled at its assailant.

Knowing what her familiar was about to do, Kirche immediately wrapped herself around its head protectively and stroke it gently. She stayed with her familiar and tried to keep it calm.

"Wh-what were you doing!?" Louise shouted angrily.

"Its tail is on fire," he answered calmly.

"Of course its tail is on fire! It's a salamander!" Louise screamed as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Huh?" was Zero's only response, being completely clueless and all.

"You really don't know, do you?" asked Louise. When Zero appeared clueless, Louise sighed and explained, "Salamander, a lizard of fire. It is distinguish by its fiery tail. It possess the ability to create and control fire. It was said that a salamander will only lose the flame on its tail when it died or when it was near death."

"Ahh," Zero made a sound of enlightenment. '_Well, that was certainly educational,'_ he thought.

"And you tried pouring water on the '_poor thing_'," said Louise. If she had stopped and think about what had just happened, she would probably laugh. But the commotions generated by the falling food-cart and Louise's out burst have drawn in students of Tristain Magic Academy, and they have gathered to watched the spectacle. Comments were made about her familiar being an illiterate commoner. That was being reflected upon Louise as usual, and it had gotten her in a foul mood. A frown quickly found its way on her face and she lashed out, "Shut up! There's nothing to see here! Go back to your sits!"

Zero easily ignores everything that goes around him. He approached Kirche and her growling familiar then apologize earnestly, "I am sorry. I have never seen a salamander before and I didn't realize that was inappropriate."

Kirche gave her familiar one final pet on the head, calming it down, and stood up to face Zero. "It's alright. By the way, her name is Flame," she introduced. The creature stayed behind its master and observed Zero cautiously even as Kirche shared its greatness to him. "Isn't she cute? Look at her tail," she said as she pointed at the tip of the lizard's fiery tail and appeared to be mesmerized by it. Her eyes were sparkling and she went on explaining, "A flame this vivid and large can only mean she's a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains!" Kirche has clearly lost it when she started hugging her salamander lovingly and kept advertising her familiar's greatness, "...They are like a brand! Collectors can't even put a price on them!"

Zero didn't know how he should respond to Kirche's sudden outburst. He began to look around and found Louise staring. She, apparently, had successfully turned away the crowd that gathered earlier. Her attention now seemed to be focused solely on Kirche and her salamander. _'Are you serious,'_ Zero thought as he looked at both girls. Kirche was petting her lizard and kissing it affectionately. Louise was looking on in bitter jealously. "Ahem," Zero cleared throat and got them back to reality.

Upon clearing his throat, Louise stopped staring at Kirche's salamander. It was a good sign except that she was now frowning at him...

It seemed to work on Kirche as well as she regained her composure. "Pardon my impoliteness," Kirche said as she surveyed her surrounding. All the food she brought along was now being clear away by the servants. "What a waste," she said, indicating the food. Her familiar was still glaring at its 'attacker'. "Well, it looks like I don't have anything to share with you at the moment. Perhaps next time, Zero," she smile flirtatiously at Zero and he nodded at her courteously. Zero's earlier outburst had surprised her. Who would have thought that he have no idea what a salamander was. Aside from his initial outburst at her familiar, he had stayed relatively compose throughout everything. She had a feeling that he would not succumb to her passion easily like most other men and decided to retreat for now. Not to mention her salamander was still a little edgy. There's always another chance next time, she reasoned.

Zero and Louise watched as Kirche stroked her flaming red hair once more and blew a kiss in Zero's direction before leaving the scene. The salamander followed her.

"Argh, that girl gets on my nerves! Just because she summoned a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains!" Louise shook a fist in Kirche's direction as she disappeared.

"Relax, Louise; it's just a lizard."

"No, it's not! You can determine a mage's true power just by looking at his or her familiar! Why did that idiot get a salamander while I got you?!" Louise glared at him.

'_Ugh great, now I am being compared to a lizard...'_ Zero rolled his eyes.

* * *

It was night time and Zero decided to leave for a quiet place and have some alone time, leaving Louise on her own. Like before, he reached the top of a tower and lay down. As he observed the beautiful night sky, he reflected on the day's events. The whole laundry fiasco was definitely a disaster. He still hadn't told Louise what had became of her clothes. Since he saw she had an abundant amount of clothes in her drawers, he figured she wouldn't notice a set or two missing...

Once they both returned to Louise's room, she just kept on babbling about how wonderful a salamander was and kept comparing him to that. In her naive view of the world, she kept putting that lizard above him in almost every category. It was quite insulting, really, but Zero let it pass. He sees no point in arguing with her as he wasn't ready to show off his 'awesome skills' to this world yet. And so he endured...

On another note: salamander, a legendary - or more like mythical - lizard of fire. Who knew that they exist? He had to admit that he overreacted a bit then, and that was quite a blunder on his part. But seriously, who would allow such a walking torch in a place so prone to fire. Practically, everything in there was flammable...

Zero shook his head and sighed but then he detected a fairly large object rising quickly from the tower below. He got into a defensive stance quickly and waited for the object to show itself. He came face to face with another creature of legend/myth: a dragon. The dragon landed on top of the tower, carrying a blue haired girl on its back. Zero recognized the girl and lowered his stance. She was the one in Louise's class who's more interest in her book than his name. The girl looked a little surprise when she saw him, but she returned to her emotionless expression quickly and got off her blue dragon.

"Hi," Zero greeted her and she nodded in return. Zero observed the girl as she sent her blue dragon away. She then picked a corner to sit down and began reading her book. Since there was no further exchange, he laid back down and continued watching the night sky as he focused on what he learned today.

The lessons taught by Louise's teacher proved to be useless. He tried to read Louise's books but they were as incomprehensible as they came. Seriously, how could he understand that just by reciting a few verses, focus on some image and '_magic_' will happen. How could he ever accept something as obscure and unscientific as mind over matter? Zero let loose a sigh. Not giving up, he realized that he didn't really need to understand how magic work. All he needed was to find some kind of reverse spell. Then he can find a mage and cast the spell so he could go home. Since Louise's book yielded no result, the next place to search was probably a library of some sort.

Zero decided he could do that the next day. For now, he planned to just enjoy the rest of the night. Then Zero remembered the two distinctive he acquired when he '_became_' Louise's familiar. Since he got nothing better to do, he decided to analyze them.

Tabitha had been observing Zero from the corner of her eyes as soon as she sat down and pretended to read. She was quite surprised when she saw him on top of this roof. She had selected this particular place because no one would normally be here. It was located at the top of a very tall tower that was only accessible through flight (or some unique climbing skills). Not many people would bother coming here as normal levitation spell wouldn't be enough to reach this height and higher level of flight spells were notoriously hard to control. She was quite puzzled as to how Louise's familiar managed to get all the way up here. She shook her head and decides to stop thinking about this strange familiar and focus on the reason she was here tonight: to find some peace and quiet. Kirche, her best friend, had left her room not too long ago. She had been talking about Louise's familiar nonstop ever since she barged into her room right after dinner and she nearly drove her nuts. Deciding not to think about it anymore, she began reading her book in earnest and found some inner peace.

Zero and Tabitha spent their time together in silence, each doing their own thing.

Half an hour later, Zero suddenly sat up. He had just finished analyzing one of the two remaining foreign programs. In it were codes that wrap his mind and bend him to Louise's will. There was only one problem to those codes: it was so poorly written that it could barely control a mettaur - a simple mechaniloid - let alone him or any other reploid. He promptly deleted it and moved on to the next program.

Tabitha trained her eyes on him at once when he sat up. Aside the sigh he made earlier, he had not made any other movement so she had read her book in peace. She was quite surprised when he suddenly sat up, so she watched him from the corner of her eyes again; he simply scratched his head a little, gave off a few amusing chuckles, then laid back down. Afterward, he just laid there unmoving.

Another hour later, Tabitha whistled her dragon to pick her up and soon left, leaving Zero on the roof alone.

Chapter End

* * *

AN: The opening part had some very awkward dialogs. However, I don't know how to fix them. In order to save Louise from 'ground rules', Colbert had to come save the day. That means he will have to interact with Zero but I really have nothing new to add to their conversations so it was awkward… Saving Louise from rules was important. This fic is about how Zero's interaction with these characters differs from Saito. Any new rules established will only bound characters from many free interactions I had in mind. I needed those interactions to make fun of them so…

The rest of the chapter wasn't so bad, I think. And I finally got to screw Zero. I am so happy. LOL

Salamander's tail explanation came from Pokémon. The idea of meeting Tabitha at night came from 'I, X your Familiar'. The only reason 'Summoned Sergeant Chronicles' even made it to the reference was because of one single paragraph here involving Kirche's physical description. I am not good at descriptions…

Anyway here's my long, 'hateful' rants (ignore this unless you are prepared…):

7 deadly sins: Again, no one tries… I am starting to wonder how many of you are familiar with the Mega Man series. I mean I expected fierce replies with last time's challenge. But no one was willing to try and defend X or prove me wrong? *Sigh* Then again, I did said ignore me. LOL Anyways, here's my view.

Pride – Zero has a great deal of pride as a warrior. He had tendencies to boast about X being a better hunter than him to anyone who is willing to listen. Then we get the conversation before X and Zero's duel in X5. Those proved Zero had a lot of pride as a warrior. X's pride? Well, I challenge you to find me a good and convincing example because I am drawing blank here. I am sure he had some pride but it was so unapparent that I can't pin point it anywhere. As it stands, Zero got this one.

Wrath – Do I even need to point this one out? Zero dominates, period. I am sure X has his wrath or else he wouldn't be able to terminate so many mavericks. However, every time he opens his mouth, so goes his wrath, to a point that one can question whether he even had them to begin with…

Lust – Zero certainly had a lot of bloodlust. LOL. Although, I believe this one is mostly about romance. Well, Zero has Iris. Who does X have? Alia? Well, Capcom certainly did try (X8) but their effort is not very convincing (at least not to me or I am just that dense). Where as Zero &amp; Iris drops a lot of hints, X &amp; Alia leave it up to our imagination. Their interaction was so professional that you could argue that there is nothing going on, or Alia could be paired off to Signas, Douglas, Layer, Axl, Zero, etc. Hell, if Gate was still around, I say she's paired off with him. If not Alia, then only who else? …Zero? Well, their bromance _is_ all over the place; but it gives me the creeps so I rather not think about it. LOL. Anyway, Zero's pairing is apparent while X is ambiguous at best so Zero got this round again.

Envy – A close call on this. Envy is an emotion in which one feels the grass over the fence is always greener (better). Zero shows very little emotions around people but he does leave hints. He tells others (and himself) from time to time that X _is_ 'The One'. That can be translated into Zero seeing something that X had but he lacks. My guess was probably X's ability to feel sympathy for others. In reality though, if he can feel this way, then it just the envy talking. Sympathy is simply too abstract of a thing to measure from person to person (although I do believe X had more). Who can X envy? …Zero? What did he saw his friend had that he doesn't? My assumption would be Zero's apparent lack of empathy. I mean, X always moan over killing mavericks while Zero shows no signs of any suffering (at least to people around him; privately, it's a different matter - just look at Zero's ending in X4 &amp; X5). If I am X, I will be envious of that. Here is the problem though. He can never express this to anyone including himself because such thought is very disrespectful to Zero. It will be like saying Zero is an unremorseful monster who kills without care… So who else would X envy? Axl maybe? What will he be envying about? Axl's innocence perhaps. Yupe, a close call with this one.

Greed – Oddly enough, X won this round hands down. Greed is classified as not getting enough of something and wanting more. Zero is self sacrificing through and through. His views on things are kept realistic, so I can't find any signs of greed in him. X is greedy, but his greed is noble. He genuinely wants happiness for all even if that does not look possible. And he will never truly get enough of that so, greed. Zero is no; X is yes, so X won.

Gluttony – Both have shown no sign of hording food or energy resources so they both got a no for this.

Sloth – Both show little sign of laziness so no again. (…unless you count X took his time off during X7, but then Zero slept for a century so… LOL)

pltrgst: Tabitha is going to be a problem for me but then who isn't. *Sigh* Anyway, thanks. I went back and shorten it, though I still used 'Louise's familiar'…

Guest #2: It's not so much about taking craps from her. They will both have craps thrown at them constantly (from me or each other). It's how they face those craps that interest me. As for romance…I admit. I sucked at it so I will try and avoid them as much as possible, but FoZ is a harem series… Here is the deal. When opportunity presents itself, I will throw some in; but romantic relationships will be kept mostly ambiguous and in the background, so, um, use your own imaginations as to what transpired. LOL

Krazyfanfiction1: Rocket boots? Does he even have them in the first place, Zero series no less? If it was the dash or double jump…well I leave it up to your imagination, as well as all arms/abilities. Unless I can find ways to use them, many (possible) abilities will not be shown…

KH-Hardcorefan4483: If I appeared to be rude last time, I apologized. I did not mean to. And so here is a better response for last time and now. Zero's acceptance of magic came quickly because he had no alternative explanation besides the one offered. Given Zero's abilities, if he cannot pick up anything, he will have no choice but to accept 'magic' for now. It's a normal thing to do. And no, Zero is not as logical as you think. In fact at one point, X stated that Zero had once taught him 'Don't Think, Feel' (a nice Fairy Tail song LOL). Unless you want to confirm it by replaying X5, watch this 'X vs Zero Decisive battle 2 by Ultimatemavrickhunterx' on Youtube. I agreed; X is a better familiar for Louise, but that does not necessary means a better choice of character for the story itself. I needed a jerk to do what I needed done and X just lacked that quality. As for my suggestions, I do hope you find them helpful. Still, I hope you don't blindly follow them. After all, I could be wrong. Find your own ways of doing things. Good luck.

(Warning: the following reply contains inappropriate languages so viewer discretion is advised…I love this phrase. LOL)

Guest #1: Ah, and so my first flame. Hooray… at least you got the gut to say what's on your mind. And so in the honor of your 'bravery', I shall response just this once (thoughtless flames like this will be ignored in the future; I have wasted enough time here already…). First of all, reread the damn thing you stupid idiot! I am using Zero from the Zero series. Secondly, who is to say Zero from the X series could not have behaved this way. Replay the damn games again, you dumb-ass! But this time, pay attention to the details and tried using that tiny brain of yours for a change before coming here and embarrass yourself! *Sigh* And here I thought I had explained what kind of Zero you should expect... Oh well I guess I will just have to go the extra mile and go into details this time. What a waste of time? Anyway, moron, try to keep up. Zero from the Zero series had shown very little personalities. He is so good at hiding his thoughts that he became a plain character (as plain as X was in the X series if not more). You needed something major to happen to get a response from him. And that _is_ canon! I mean just look at his interactions with the Resistance members. Have you ever seen him getting mad at anyone in and around the base, even some of the more annoying ones, even Old Andrew? No, he showed no response whatsoever. Hell, he even showed an unreasonable amount of tolerance to the likes of Elpizo. Because of that, one need to search for his other possible personalities to fill the void and that's during the X series. X1-3, Zero plays the flamboyant playboy. Hell, in Xtreem 2, even X made a commented on him and Iris. And if you look at X4's opening, playboy was written all over his smug face. Over all, pre X4, Zero was a 'happy Zero'. During X4 &amp; X5, Zero showed us a wide range of 'other' emotions (the not so happy side). X7, he became Axl's mentor, a fairly hyper kid. Then he show considerable amount of calm when facing Vile in X8 (calmer than X). These made Zero a very adaptable character with a wide range of possible emotions even during the hostile environments of the X series. When it came to dealing with the peaceful setting in Halkeginia, I say Zero had done just about right. See, I do know my stuff. Do you? Before you go anywhere and criticize anyone for lack of knowledge, provide them a 'convincing' argument first; or else you will end up getting burn instead. And so flamer(s), please do yourself a favor and grow up. I don't mind meaningful criticisms/arguments, but being immature and stupid is not going to get you anywhere.

Phew, and I just tried pointlessly tearing a flamer to shreds. LOL Still, I had fun. I love criticisms no matter how small. I might disagree to some and tell you why. But please, argue for your point of views, make some effort, and try to be convincing. I might listen. People like guest #1, though…well they are idiots and immature. Seriously, they offer absolutely nothing. *Sigh* The reason I ask anyone to rewrite this if you think you can do better was not because I wanted to boast myself. I know my ability and it is not that great (hence why cheap excuses were used LOL). Therefore, I wanted to see if anyone here can show me a better ways to do things (Just like I am trying to show Blade of Void a better way). Plus, I like ripping ideas off of others…

Anyway that's about it for now. Next time you will get to see some action. So 'till then bye…


	5. Chapter 5

AN: This chapter was a monster and so I decided to split it in half to try and making your life easier. Sorry, you won't find any action here. It will be in the next half but then they were being update at the same time so there shouldn't be complaints. All author note stuffs will be in the next half so enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 5: His Hairs, Those Spanks, &amp; My Clothes - My Familiar Is Amazing In Sooo Mannny Waays... (Part I)

"Mission, start," dressed in his own black jump suit, Zero muttered to himself jokingly. Ciel love that phrase. Him? Not so much. He stared at the contents in front of him. It was mid afternoon and Louise had once again ordered him to wash her clothes despite his protest. And so once again, he found himself kneeling in front of a pile of dirty clothes resting inside a wooden basin filled with water. With a bar of soap in hand, he applied some on the clothes. He concentrated not use too much strength this time and began washing them.

Five minutes into his work, however, the job was proving to be too boring, and Zero's mind began to wander...

-Flashback Start-

_It was earlier in the morning and Zero was following Louise as they make their way to her class._

"_Look, it is Louise the Zero and her familiar, Zero," one student said as Zero and Louise walked by. The others began to giggle as if it was some kind of jokes - a joke that Zero don't understand._

"_By the way, why they called you 'Louise the Zero'?" Zero inquired curiously._

_Louise turned around and seemed a bit uncomfortable as she answers, "You don't need to know."_

_Seeing Louise reaction, Zero decided to tease her a little. "Hmm, if it was zeros you are getting on your test scores, don't worry. All you needed to do is studying harder."_

"_Shut up!" Louise yelled and turned away from her familiar. "Stupid commoner..." she muttered. She continued to march her way to her classroom, her footsteps a bit faster than before._

_Well, it was a predictable reaction, Zero concluded as he tried not laughing out loud._

-z-z-

"_Hello everyone, my name is Mrs. Chevreuse and I am a new teacher here at Tristain Magic Academy," said a middle-aged woman with a plump, round face and figure. She wore in a voluminous purple robe and hat and had a friendly expression. "My element is earth. My nickname is The Red Earth Chevreuse. I will be giving lectures on earth magic this year. As everyone knows, there are four basic elements..."_

_A few minutes into her lecture, Zero was ready to fall asleep. It took a few elbows and some - cute looking - glares from Louise to prevent him from shutting down, and she was mumbling about her mistake by bringing him along._

"_...Earth is an important magical element, since it governs the creation of all things. And to make you understand that, I'll start out by having you all master alchemy," Mrs. Chevreuse said. She placed a few pebbles on the lecture podium and gave a short chant as she pointed her wand on those rocks. A few seconds later, the rocks changed to a golden color. The ordinary rocks have seemingly changed into something that bore a much higher value._

_Zero was amazed by Chevreuse's little demonstration. 'Well, I'll be damned. Mind over matter does work...' thought the reploid._

"_Now let's have someone give it a try," the professor said. She searched around the room and finally pointed at Louise._

_Zero was too absorbed in analyzing Chevreuse's demonstration to notice that the whole class was adamant on letting Louise try the spell or that Louise was only doing it in a hopeless attempt to salvage her pride. It wasn't until everyone in class crouched behind their desk as if to protect themselves from some imminent danger did Zero took notice. By then, Louise was already standing before the podium, ready to cast her spell._

_While Zero was puzzled over the students' action, his attention was quickly drawn back to Louise whom began casting her spell. Sitting in the front roll, he could tell she was concentrating hard just as her teacher instructed. At first, everything seemed to be normal: The rocks were glowing and began to change color just like the previous demonstration. But then a fraction of a second later, the rocks glowed brighter than they were supposed to and Zero's sensors detected an abnormal energy build up within the rocks. To make matters worse, his sensors were telling him that the energy was rapidly destabilizing and would explode any second. He got up, rushed to the rocks and prepared grab and throw them away._

_Inches before Zero get to those rocks, they exploded just as his sensors predicted. Luckily, the resulting explosion was not very strong as the energy build up was short lived. Had it lasted a few seconds longer, the entire academy could have been toasted. As it was right now, only a rather loud sound and an unimpressive shock wave combined with a lot of black smoke were released. Needless to say, this was quite a scary ordeal, and Zero finally understood why the entire class was so adamant in letting her attempts such activity. It can be dangerous, apparently. _

_Zero quickly did a survey of the havocs Louise left behind. The front part of classroom was pretty much trashed. Windows in the back were broken. The teacher, Chevreuse, was lying on the ground, unconscious. That was understandable. After all, she was one of the closest person to the 'epic' explosion. Louise, miraculously, was standing upright. The only signs of her receiving any harm were her shredded clothes that were slightly burned and covered in soot. Her hair was a mess as well. All the students were fine. They have the presence of mind to duck behind their desk and avoided pretty much everything except for some dust particles falling from the above in the wake of the explosion. As for himself: he will need some new clothes but that's pretty much it._

"_...Looks like I made a little mistake," Louise said, attempting to lessen her fault._

"_How is this 'little'?" one fat boy said._

"_Your percentage of success is Zero!"_

"_Louise the Zero!"_

-z-z-

_After Louise blew up her teacher and classroom, she had been taken away for questioning. A few hours of debate later, the staffs concluded that it was due to Mrs. Chevreuse's inexperience that led to this accident. Furthermore, the entire class had warned her not to let Louise try casting the spell, but she had not heed the warning thus Louise was not at fault. She was released without punishment._

_It was noon. Louise and Zero were making their way back to her dorm room. On the way to her room, they catches the attentions of other students and Louise was make fun of again like usual as she passes by._

"_Look at Louise's clothes. She must have failed again. That is so Louise the Zero."_

"_Yeah, look at her hair. It's pretty messy, haha."_

"_Teehee, her familiar got some nice hair. Same cannot be said for his clothes though."_

"_Haha, so true."_

_Louise stormed inside her room followed by Zero. She was definitely having a bad day and her mood had worsened after being snickered by others. She undressed herself and put on some new clothing, completely ignoring Zero's presence. She took a sit on a desk in front of a mirror and began brushing her hair. Her eyes became unfocused, and she just stared off into space._

'_She's brooding,' Zero concluded. A brooding Louise was not known to him. She was known to be a feisty one, and she would not let a few failures or mockeries get her down. Therefore, he decided lift her spirit up by jolting her feisty side. In other words: getting on her nerves. "So that was why they called you Louise the Zero, huh," Zero said mockingly with a smirk. She stopped her brush stroke in mid-stroke. He knew he had got her attention now and decided to mock her some more, "Well, I got to say: I didn't expect such a spectacle there."_

"_Shut up!" she snapped at him, but then slumped down on her chair and stared blankly at her mirror._

"_The next time you attempt something that dangerous, maybe having a person qualify enough to avoid getting yourself or anyone blown up would help," Zero mocked but with a hint of seriousness._

"_Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she screamed, not get that hint at all. She then began brushing her hair angrily. Her eyes were now in between vacancy and signs of life._

_Zero mentally sighed. She really didn't understand how close she was to blowing everyone up sky-high, including herself. Still, he decided to leave that matter for future discussions. Right now, getting her fighting spirit up is the priority, and teasing her seemed to work well, plus it was fun. "Why so mad, Louise? You may have failed to transform those rocks but you managed to create an explosion. It wasn't a complete failure," mocked Zero._

_This time, Louise turned around and glared at him. "Shut up, Zero!" she yelled. However, saying his name reminded her of her own, and she groaned in frustration. Nonetheless, she glared at him fiercely, fire burning intensely within her gaze. She was fully revived._

"_Haha, that's more like the Louise I know: always lively, outspoken, and ready to defend her pride," Zero chuckled, but then his tone turned sincere. "Don't let this unsuccessful attempt and a few mockeries get your spirit down. Beside, your spell was almost a success as far as I can tell. All you needed is more practice perhaps, so show them you have improved next time," encouraged Zero genuinely._

"_Shut up! What would you know?" She was still snappish but her mood seemed to have gotten a little better. "Stupid commoner..." she muttered._

"_Well I know brooding isn't going to solve your problem, Louise. Just put this behind you and work on the future. You will succeed," he encouraged. "Anyway, it's now noon. Why don't you go get something to eat," he suggested and tried to get her focusing on something else._

"_Humph!" Louise turned away from Zero and started walking toward the door. Her familiar was right. It was no use in brooding over her past failures. All she needed to do was to be successful next time. Then she could shut up those who have mocked her. She would never admit it but her familiar's words did brighten her spirit. She smiled a little as she walk to the door and began thinking about what she should have for lunch today and perhaps what food she should get for her familiar as a reward for his encouraging words..._

_Zero, however, just can't resist teasing her one more time and joked, "Louise the Zero."_

_And, there goes his reward. She heard him and turned around immediately, with a huge frown across her face, and snapped, "That's it! No lunch for you!"_

"_Sure, sure," he replied nonchalantly._

"_And wash these clothes while I am gone!" she pointed to the clothes she had wore the night before._

_This time, it was Zero's smile that turned into a frown. His teasing had gone too far, apparently, and it backfired on him. "I got to say: It is better that you leave the job to the maids around here. I am er, not very talented at this," he tried._

"_Shut up! It's your punishment for teasing your master!"_

"_Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."_

"_Humph!" was Louise's only response as she stormed out angrily._

_After Louise left, Zero took off his own shredded clothes. The black jump suit he wore beneath had once again become his outfit. As expected of its high grade materials use and sophisticated design, it suffered no damage from Louise's blast. He gathered his and Louise's damaged clothes and threw them away. Then he gathers the clothes that Louise wanted him to wash and left._

-Flashback End-

And so here he was, doing her laundries again...

"What are you doing, Zero-san!?"

That broke his trance and got his attention. Zero turned to the source and found Siesta gawking at him in what seemed like panic. The basket of clothes in her arm had dropped onto the ground, spilling its contents. "Hello, Siesta," He doesn't really understand the cause of her panic, but he greeted her anyway and said, "I am washing Louise's..." He happened to looked at his laundries in mid-sentence and froze. Yup, he did it again, and yikes, he's so screwed. He had let his body run on auto pilot while his mind was elsewhere. With his reploid strength left somewhat unchecked, it proved to be too much for Louise's flimsy clothes. Although the washing board had stayed intact this time, pieces of fabrics have filled the pool of water. Without a doubt, there will be many holes on her clothes now.

Siesta marched over and checked upon the destructions. Aside from a few that Zero had done before he zoned out and one that remained in the pool, all the rest were damaged beyond repair, which was most of them. "Zero-san," she said solemnly as she stood up. "You are banished from doing laundry, ever!" she declared. She put one hand on her hip, the other pointing accusingly at him as she glared at him sternly.

He was quite surprised by her sudden outburst. He never thought the ever-gentle maid would have such a spicy side, and that she would display it in such a manner. However, it was also a rather comical sight. Her posture reminded him of Louise when she was scolding him. If Zero didn't already felt guilty over doing such a poor job, he would probably laugh at her the same way he does to Louise. For now, he held it back and spoke, "Calm down, Siesta. I know I am not very good at this but Louise told me to do it."

"Zero-san, you are unfit to do this. I cannot stand by and watch you massacre Miss Louise's clothes! I must stop you from this madness!" she exclaimed, her posture never changed.

"Now, you don't have to go so far. All I needed was a little more practice. I mean, er, look," Zero pointed to the good ones and said, "This isn't as bad as last time. There are two pieces that are fine-"

"Yes, but most of them were destroyed," the maid said, sounding totally unimpressed.

"Like I said: a little more practice. I don't like being a useless person around here and I really like to help you guys out, lessen your burdens you know," smiled Zero. He tried to put out as much charm as possible, which made him looked silly.

"Zero-san, you are not helping," she said dryly.

"One more chance," he pled. He really disliked the idea of being a freeloader.

The maid sighed and left his side to gather what she had dropped earlier. She came back with a basket of large white sheets. "Zero-san, if you needed practice, wash these instead. They are tablecloths. They are cheap and much tougher," Siesta explained. "And from today on, these are the only things you are allowed to wash. If Miss Louise gave you any laundry, please ask me or any other maid to do it," she said, summoning her most commanding voice she had ever attempted.

Zero nodded and took on the new challenge, but he was mentally chuckling at her. She reminded him of Ciel who often voiced her discontent after he performed some crazy stunts. _'Ciel...'_ he thought. He really needed to begin his quest and find a way home. "Siesta, do you know if there's a library around here?" he asked as he began washing the tablecloths.

"Yes, the Fenrir's Library but you need a pass to enter. Why?"

"I was just wondering," Zero replied. Once again, his mind slipped.

The maid observed him a bit as she washed her portion of tablecloths and noticed that Zero had increased his pace dramatically. "Zero-san, s-stop!" she screeched and held his arms, stopping what he was doing.

"Oops," he said, looking at her sheepishly.

The maid was less than pleased, and she let him know, "Zero-san, no more washing from you!"

* * *

After Zero managed to somehow convince Siesta letting him continued doing laundry under her watchful eyes and finished the task, he set off to find the Fenrir's Library. Locating it wasn't very hard, and sneaking into it was a piece of cake. Once inside, however, the hunter quickly realized the impossible task set before him.

The Fenrir's Library was huge. It had multiple floors and each floor have countless aisles filled with all kinds of books. Just looking at the sheer number of books caused the hunter to cringe. He knew this won't be easy but going through all of this just to find one that could send him back seems impossible. A headache was quickly developing but he managed to push it back. The hunter sighed and began his grueling task. Luckily, the place was devoid of anyone at the moment.

There are two ways to approach this. He could go with the brute force approach and scan every book he sees or he could go after those that seem relevant exclusively. The obvious choice was to go after those that seem relevant of course. The problem was he knew next to nothing about magic. Knowing which ones are relevant would be tough. For now, he decided to start with those that talk about summons only. Since his time staying here would be limited due to many reasons, he scanned the materials quickly and stored it into his memory. He would have to analyze them later when he had free time.

Ten minutes into his boring task of scanning books, Zero came across a book name 'Book of Runes'. He took a look at the runes on his hand. Then he remembered the third mysterious program he analyzed the night before. The result indicated that it had something to do with his runes but the specifics eluded him. He took another look at the book, and it reminded him of the book he saw when he went retrieving his armor two days ago. He recognized it wasn't exactly the same book he'd seen earlier, but he took it out and began reading it anyway.

A few minutes of page flipping later, the reploid slam the book back to where it was found. The so call 'Book of Runes' had many runes unrelated to his own and the descriptions of what they were made almost no sense to him. It was utterly useless. He went back to scan more books.

Half an hour later, he came across another 'Book of Runes'. This one was the same as the one he had seen two days ago. He decided to gave another chance and read it.

...

...

...

Zero sighed. _'No wonder Colbert seemed so interested in me…'_ he thought. The book contained information on why his runes seemed so special, but it offered no direct clue to a reverse spell. It did, however, contained some important terms that could produce some potential leads. He put the book back and checked his internal clock. It had been close to two hours since he came, and he detected someone just entered the building. He decided it was time to leave.

Before leaving, he gave one last look at the number of books still left unchecked and cringed once more. He had a feeling that he would come back to this library for many, many times...

* * *

Zero's dinner for the night was served outside along with other familiar-creatures. Most of them were animal-like creatures like a wolf, a huge snake, a turtle, a cat, and many others. But then there were some bizarre creatures that he can't even put a name into like the floating eyeball to his side that's currently staring at him. Yup, a big-freaking-floating eyeball! Oh, the absurdity of the universe...

Servants began to bring out food for them. Each familiar received a plate and some food. As expected, there was nothing fancy for him. It was a plain loaf of bread like the night before but slightly better: it wasn't moldy this time. He took his time and observed what kind of food other familiars were getting...

Zero sighed. In his conclusion, Louise must have regarded quite lowly of him. Most of the familiars have some kind of fancy dishes. Although not as fancy as the 'banquet' he saw inside the dining hall, it was still quite a feast. The few that didn't receive regular food were given something that looked just as expensive. One of them was happily munching on what seemed to be gemstones! It should be a crime.

Anyway, he ate his loaf of bread in silent and sat in a corner. Since he got nothing better to do at the moment, he began searching through the book-scans he acquired earlier. As a reploid, memorizing pages after pages of documents was easy. However, just because he had saved them as files doesn't mean he understand what they are. In the end, he still had to read them and painstakingly analyze their meanings...

...

...

...

Half an hour later, Louise emerged from the dining hall and walked hastily toward Zero. "Let's go, Zero," she ordered.

Zero looked up toward her and noticed she seemed annoyed. Just as he stood up, Kirche burst out from the dining hall and screamed, "Wait Louise, what happen to your familiar!? Where-" She was now staring right at him, and Zero finally understands why Louise was in a foul mood.

"Why hello, Zero," Kirche winked and put on her charm. "I was looking for you. I have once again ordered too much food, Zero. Come help me finish them," she flirted. She wrapped her arms around his and stuffed it in between her impressive breasts as she started to drag him toward the dining hall.

Louise frowned and stepped in. "I told you I gave him food already, Kirche. Leave my familiar alone!" When she failed to separate them, she grabbed onto his other arm and began some kind of tug of war with him being the object of the game.

"I am sure he doesn't mind joining me. Right, Zero?" Kirche flashed him a seductive smile and pulled his arm deeper into her cleavage as she leaned her head onto his shoulder.

Louise was seeing red and tugged at Zero's arm hard as she snapped at Kirche, "I told you he didn't want anything from you!"

"That's not for you to decide. Come, Zero."

"Arrrgghh!"

Zero watched them in amusement. The ridiculous situation he found himself in prompted him to wonder: If this was a part of his dream world, he wondered if he subconsciously had the kind of fetish where two girls were fighting over him. But he quickly dismissed the thought. As amusing as it was to watch them, now was not the time for such silliness. Besides, he was starting to get annoyed at their antics. But before Zero had a chance to make his move, something else happened.

A certain red lizard was sent flying out the door at great speed and crashed painfully head first onto the grassy ground. That was followed by angry screams of Mrs. Chevreuse. "Miss Zerbst! Miss Zerbst!" When the angry professor spotted the person she's looking for, she marched over immediately all the while voicing her anger.

The angry calls drew the attention of the two girls, and they finally stopped what they were doing and looked toward the source. Zero silently observed the two girls. Louise had regained some of her composure but she seemed clueless as to what was going on. Kirche, on the other hand, looked a little nervous as she looked over at her familiar. She quickly let go of him and tried to act as formal as she can.

"Miss Zerbst, I may have let you bring your familiar into the Alvíss Dining Hall, but you need keep an eye at it! It went wild in there and made a mess, Miss Zerbst!" the professor yelled.

If this professor had been a guy, she might have got away with a wink and there will be no punishment. Most of male population in Halkeginia will simply dropped to their knees once she put on her charm. Unfortunately for her, it won't work on Mrs. Chevreuse for obvious reason. Kirche knew she was in deep trouble but she figured she had to at least try, and spoke innocently, "But Mrs. Chevreuse, I just needed to take a break-"

"No, Miss Zerbst, the rules are clear, and you clearly need to study them some more," the professor said as she waved her wand at the unconscious salamander and chanted some kind of spell causing the lizard to float beside her. "Come with me, Miss Zerbst," Mrs. Chevreuse said as she walked up to Kirche, grabbed the back of the young mage's cape, and dragged her off her feet, ignoring Kirche's protest.

"Ha, that's what you get for breaking academy rules. Have fun learning them all over again!" Louise tried to rub it in as she waved her fist at Kirche. The poor seductress was still protesting but she was slowly fading away in the distant as she was being dragged further and further to some study room.

Zero watched on in amusement. Although he did felt a little sorry for Kirche, he can't help but enjoyed the events that just happened. The unexpected event helped him alleviated the stress of reading those book-scans. They were really hard to understand.

Turning her attention to her familiar, she commanded, "Humph. Let's go, Zero."

Zero raised an eyebrow at her, and she frowned and glared at him in return. Nonetheless, he signaled her to lead the way and he followed. He could tell she was in a much better mood even if she was still frowning at him. He suspected she remained stern with him in an attempt to show she had authority over him. Such naivety of hers amused the reploid to no end.

* * *

"It's not here. Where had I put it?" Louise murmured to herself. It had been two hours since she got back to her room. She had since changed out of her uniform and sat at her desk doing some self studying. Then she got tired at reading the book she was holding and decided to go over her notes instead. She went looking for them only to find them missing. Then she remembered. She had took it to the dining hall with her for some extra studies on a particular hard subject but Kirche kept bugging her on Zero's where about. It had gotten so annoying she left in haste, leaving her notes behind.

'_Argh, that's just great,'_ Louise frowned. She turned around and looked across the room and found Zero sitting in a corner with his eyes close. "Zero, I left my notes in the dining hall. Go get it for me," she commanded plainly.

'_Ugh great, now I am reduced to being her personal gofer,'_ he thought bitterly. It wasn't that he mind running the errant. It was her attitude toward him that made him reluctant to take up her task, and so Zero said offhandedly, "Why should I?"

"Because you are my familiar. Because you are supposed to fetch things for me! Now get going!" she glared at him.

Zero rolled his eyes and stared at her. She kept her glare and he finally sighed. _'Then again, a break from reading all these 'nonsense' isn't bad,'_ he thought. "Yes, my queen," Zero addressed her sarcastically and left before she could throw a fit.

-z-z-

Zero took a luxurious pace toward the Alvíss Dining Hall. He was in no hurry to complete her task and was just enjoying his night stroll. In fact, he was glad to do something else beside reading and trying to understand the nonsense those books call '_magic_'. They were slowly driving him mad...

When he got to the Alvíss Dining Hall, however, he was stopped by the guards at the front door. "I was told by Louise Vallière, a noble, to go in and retrieve some notes of hers," the hunter said politely.

The two guards kept their blockage. "I am sorry sir, but you are not allowed to go inside unless you are with a noble or you are a servant who got the permission to work in there," a young and polite guard said.

"But I just got in yesterday. Look, I am her _'familiar'_ and she told me to get some notes she left behind," the hunter explained. He was a bit uneasy to admit he was her familiar.

"I am sorry sir, but you may not enter."

"Yeah, you heard it. Now, beat it pal!" a slightly older and very impatient guard ordered.

"You got to be kidding me," the reploid said but the guards stood firm. Zero slapped a hand on his face and sighed, "It's not like you have anything valuable in there. It's just a stupid dining hall."

The reploid's statements wasn't meant to aim at any one in particular but the less polite guard took it as an insult and threatened, "Hey you, get out of here before we throw you out!"

Zero took a glance at the guards. One of them was taking an aggressive stance while the other was trying to calm his partner down. There are two options before him. The legendary-hunter-turned-gofer could abandon his task and go back, or he could beat up the guards, force his way in and complete his stupid task. Anyone who dares to stop him would be considered as an unintentional casualty. Right now, as he glanced at that idiotic brute, the second option was looking VERY tempting. A part of him wanted so badly to vent out many of his frustrations and beat them into bloody pulps that he was seriously considered doing it. However, the more rational part held him back. Bullying humans was not his style, after all, but if they keep this up...

Luckily for the guards, they have an angel on their side tonight. "Zero-san, what are you doing here?"

Zero turned around and saw the lovely maid, Siesta, a few meters away. "Hello, Siesta," he greeted and walked to her. "I was told by Louise to retrieve some notes of hers but they won't let me pass," said Zero, pointing his thumb at the guards. The two guards had somehow straightened themselves out and stood up like pros in their respective post, however, one was glaring at him.

The lovely maid smiled and turned toward the guards. She kept her smile and approached them. When she reached the guards, she said something to them which seemed cause a strife between the two guards. After a while, the more aggressive one elbowed his partner and their attitude mellowed out. She then returned to Zero. "Come with me, Zero-san," she smiled and led him toward the dining hall.

On the way inside, Zero took a glimpse at his bouncers. The aggressive one flashed a charming smile at Siesta as the lovely maid went by, but once she past by, his smile rapidly turned into a frown and glared daggers at the blond. His partner also put on a smile when the maid passes by but he looked a bit unsure when Zero, the 'commoner/familiar', followed. Zero stole a glance at his pretty escort as well and was amused to find that she seemed blissfully oblivious to all of this.

-z-z-

An hour after Zero left, Louise got dressed in her uniform once again and left in a hurry for the Alvíss Dining Hall. She had forgotten one important fact: Zero, being her familiar and just a commoner, wasn't allowed inside the dining hall without permission or an escort from a noble. She can only hope her rude familiar didn't do anything rash and got caught.

Louise walked hastily to the entrance of the dining hall, where two guards were stationed, and asked none too politely, "Hey you, have you seen a man with long blond hair?" She pointed and glared at the two guards as if she was irritated by their presence. She didn't mean to come across being hostile. She was just worry about her familiar, although she would never admit that.

The guards were visibly shaken by her demeanor and told her what they knew. As she listened to them, Louise was amazed that her familiar was resourceful enough to find a way and get in without a noble's help.

"When had he entered?" she asked offhandedly.

"He'd been in there for almost an hour," the nervous guard answered.

Her amazement had rapidly turned into anger then. _'What was he doing in there? He should have returned long before I set out,'_ Louise thought. But then her anger quickly shifted into worry and she rushed inside. _'What if he had been detained by a noble...?'_

Nothing out of the ordinary was happening inside the dining hall. The servants were wrapping up with their clean up, and there was no sign of her familiar. Louise grabbed a random servant and asked, "Have you seen a man with long blond hair?" The young maid she questioned gave her a blank stare and she elaborated, "He is a commoner in some unique black clothes with this really long blond hair."

"Ah, you mean Mr. Zero," another young maid joined in on the conversation.

The first maid, whom Louise thought was giving her a blank stare, spoke, "His hair was so pretty." It turned out that her blank stare was actually a dreamingly stare into space and her cheeks began to flush red.

The second maid joined the first and went on rambling, "Yeah, and he was so kind helping us do the cleaning; and he was so strong, carrying so many plates all at once..."

Clearly, the maids had lost themselves inside their own little fantasy. Louise, on the other hand, wasn't sure how she should react to what she just heard. It's a good thing that her familiar like to help others. But in doing so, he put her command at less priority than helping these servants. She was definitely not amused. In fact as she thought about it some more, she got angrier. After all, her rude and good for nothing familiar had show no sign of respecting her, and instead, wasting his time impressing these girls.

"He was so dreamy, teehee..."

Louise looked at the two girls' dreamy expressions and was quite annoyed. _'What's so dreamy about that stupid commoner.'_ she thought. Zero's images popped up in her mind. Yes, she agrees that her familiar was not at all bad looking, but she wouldn't say he was attractive. Nope, she would never admit that. At that point, her face started to warm up for no apparent reason, but she dismissed it as anger toward him. Then an image of her familiar smirking popped into her mind and she felt the heat skyrocketed. Yup, there was no mistake. What she felt toward that stupid incompetent fool was nothing but pure fury! "AHEM!" She made sure to show the maids that she was clearly annoyed and demanded, "So where is he?!"

The second maid took the hint and promptly answers, "Um, he left about ten minutes ago." The first maid, however, continued on with her delusion.

"Humph!" Louise left the dining hall and headed straight for her dorm, stomping all her way back. Her mind was solely focus on what kind of punishment she should put on that ungrateful familiar of hers for sidetracking the task she gave him. A few minutes later, she could see the front gate of her dorm.

If Louise's mind was not so focused on her familiar, she might have notice one very excited first-year student talking to another less enthusiastic first-year. Before she got into the building, the two brown-cloaked students spotted and intercepted her. "You are a second-year, right? Could you show us a few cool spells?" One of them asked, his eyes shone with excitement and expectation...

-z-z-

Zero arrived back into Louise's room with her notes in hand only to find her missing. _'Heh, guess I took too long. Oh well,'_ he thought. After he helped Siesta and her fellow coworker cleaning up the dining hall, he was in a much better mood. After all, he was unaccustomed to reading and studying all day long or even a just few hours for that matter. He needs to move around and do something...

The reploid leisurely took a sit by the window and watch the scenery. It was a beautiful cloudless evening where bright stars and huge moons illuminate the night sky. Below him, two brown-cloaked students in the courtyard were talking excitedly among themselves. Such peaceful scene was seldom seen and he would like to protect it as he think back to the chaotic times he had seen. He unconsciously clenched his fists at the horrible images that flashed across in his mind only to discover that Louise's notes were still in his hand. He quickly relaxes his hand and tries to straighten out her notes, easing the creases he created. As he looked at the semi crumbled papers, he had a feeling that such peaceful night won't be lasting very long...

As on queue, he spotted Louise walking hastily back. The way she was stomping the ground as she walk, she must be mad. Yup, such peaceful night will end soon, the reploid concluded. He walked away from the window and placed her notes on a desk as he took a sit. He had decided to stay because she will give him an earful once she saw him. It was better to get it over with as soon as possible.

While Zero awaits her and the inevitable lectures she's going to bring, he calmly flipped through her notes and see if there was anything interesting there. A few minutes pass by and he suddenly detected an unusual energy build up below the courtyard similar to the one he felt earlier the day. In the milliseconds that he took to slam the note on the table and rushed himself to the window ready to jump, BOOM, a loud explosion was heard and black smoke filled the courtyard.

The legendary hunter determined that the explosion was weaker than the other one and so there was really nothing to worry about. Soon afterwards, he heard coughs from within the thick black smoke. When the smoke cleared, three figures emerged: two were laying flat on the ground and the other stood. The third figure, Louise, soon disappear inside the building as Zero watches on with a smile.

A few minutes later, the door swing wide open and Louise emerged. As expected, she was in a foul mood, and once again, she was a mess. Her clothes were torn in many places and she was covered in soot. A few burn marks were seen on the edge of her torn skirt and blouse. The absolutely hilarious part was her hair, which had all curled up into a pink afro.

It was so funny that Zero couldn't help himself and started to tease, "Yo Louise, nice hair."

"Shut up, Zero!" she respond. "Where's my notes?" she glared and demands.

Zero pointed his finger to the desk, never dropping his smirk. She stomped toward her notes. He can tell her anger was about to explode but he couldn't help it. Seeing her like this prompted him to tease her some more. "No seriously, I didn't know you could use magic like that." Well, really, he figured that her anger and frustration will go pass critical at any moment, and she would lay all the blame solely on him regardless whether it was true or false, therefore, he might as well enjoy it as much as possible.

"Shut up!" she stopped before her desk and glared dangerously at him.

He looked and smiled at her. As she started to pick up her notes, he added, "Really, '_nice hair_'," and winked at her.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up, Zero, or I will give you some 'nice hair' to talk about!" She crumbled up her own notes, slammed it on the desk and stuck her face close to his with her hands on her hips trying to intimidate him.

She was so cute that Zero could barely contain his laughter. It was hard to put on a straight face but he somehow managed to do that and responded, "Sure, sure, whatever you say." In the end, he can't hold it and chuckled, "'_Miss Hair-stylist_'." He was dying to see her losing it. She was going to anyway. He reasoned that it's better to do a 'controlled detonation' and see how she would respond than to let her explode on her own. It's more amusing that way.

"Arrrgghh! That's it!" Louise angrily pulled out a drawer and began searching for something.

Zero could practically see steam coming out of her. She took out a pair of scissor, muttering something about giving him some 'nice hair', and looked at him menacingly. He, however, simply raised an eyebrow at her and was enjoying ever moment of it. His nonchalant response only seems to fuel her anger.

"Say goodbye to your long blond hair, Zero!" she declared menacingly. She grabbed a large chunk of his hair and began cutting them and cutting them and cutting them...

Zero simply sat with his arms folded and watched in amusement. She began with a large chunk of his hair. Some seconds later, she began reducing the amount when she made no progress. And reducing, and reducing...

In the end, she reduced it to a single strand and it still wouldn't be cut. In frustration she voiced her thought, "Im-Impossible! What is your hair made of?" She had test her scissor by cutting a little bit of her own hair after failing to cut his even at a reduced amount. The scissor cuts fine. It was his hair that was refusing to be cut.

"Oh that? Well, heh, they are '_magically enhanced_'," he answered with a huge smirk across his face. It was simply hilarious to watch as she struggles to cut his hair. He was so glad to have guided her anger along. It was so much fun.

"Arrrgghh!" She can't even form a word to describe her frustration. Her stupid familiar had bested her attempt at humiliating him and she can't think of a better way to get back at him. Her mind was drawing blank and all she wanted was to get away from him. She can't stand his presence. Like an angry child on the verge of tear, she ran out of her room and slammed the door.

Zero watched as her go. He felt a little bit guilty about all of this. Perhaps he had gone too far with his teasing. Just as he contemplate on how to make the girl feel better, the door swings wide open and Louise stood. He could tell she was still pretty angry but there was a spark in her eyes.

"This is my room! You, sleep outside!" ordered Louise triumphantly.

'_That's it? That was my punishment?'_ Zero thought amusingly. He almost laughed it out. She must have forgotten that he normally 'slept' outside anyway. Still, seeing her triumphant look suggested that she will be fine by morning and so he left but not before one last tease. "Yes your highness," Zero bowed as if she was some kind of royalty that he was paying respect to.

Since Louise knew that he wasn't being sincere at all, she grabbed a random object, which turned out to be an ink holder, and threw it at him. Her familiar, however, skillfully dodged it and left.

-z-z-

Zero had a great time and got out of Louise's room unscathed. _'That was quite an eventful night,'_ he thought. Now that he had thoroughly entertained himself, he decided to find a secluded location and continues his hopeless research. Without thinking, he arrived at the same location as last night. He found a spot to lay down and began to go through his research materials.

Half an hour later, the blue hair girl from last night arrived with her dragon. They greeted each other in silent and each began doing their own thing...

Part I End

* * *

Attention readers! I am turning on the profanity filtering button. Why? Well, it seems my last post may be too harsh for a certain mentally unstable nutcase and broke whatever left of his/her/X's sanity (you know gender X; tranny). Now that mental retard is going psycho on me (possibly posing as someone else too, what a scumbag…). LOL Oh well. Now, normally I would have no interest in responding to dumbass(es) or mental retard(s) who cannot put up a coherent argument and had obvious signs of intelligence and vocabulary that is lower than that of a chimpanzee. LOL However, Mr. Psycho Dickhead's action here is becoming a bit too disruptive at this point, and so profanity filtering is turned on. I am sorry that might take away readers' freedom of expression who would wanted to leave legitimate reviews using those words but now find themselves unable do so. I do value freedom of expression; but when demented psycho jackass biatch want to abuse such right, well some measure had to be taken. I hope the rest of you will understand…


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Here's the rest. It's still quite long, but oh well…

* * *

Chapter 5: His Hairs, Those Spanks, &amp; My Clothes - My Familiar Is Amazing In Sooo Mannny Waays... (Part II)

Three days later, Zero found himself sitting across a basket full of Louise's dirty clothes. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the '_tough battle_' ahead. "Mission, start," the reploid whispered to himself half joking, half serious and began working on them.

A few minutes into his clothes washing, his mind started to wander. He can't help it; the repetitive task was just too boring and the legendary hunter's mind slipped into the events of the past few days.

The hopeless research he had been doing was still as hopeless as ever. He had sneaked back into the library a few times after he had ran out of research materials. Speaking of research, he was positive he had never liked it. Even without his full memory, he could tell: X was the one who liked this kind of stuff; him, not so much. It's not that he was incapable of doing it; it's just that it wasn't his thing. But when push came to shove like right now, he could do them. Or at least that was what he wanted to say. He may not be as good as X when it comes to doing research, but he's confident he can handle and understand any that comes his way if he was to put his mind up to it. But that's only if it's related to science and not some voodoo magic. When the research subject was the supernatural, he doubted even X could do any better...

As his research went nowhere, he had tried expanding his knowledge about this world and see if it helps. First come geography. It would serve him well to know at least where on the map he stands. He did find a book that talked about the world in which he resided. He learned various things from it, but then he came across an article that talked about a kingdom in the sky called Albion, and he started to doubt the legitimacy of the contents. After all, even with the technology from his world, to keep an island afloat was a massive feat considering the amount of energy that requires, and here they were casually talking about a group of floating islands as if it was a continent of its own. "Really, like a floating continent could ever exist," he groaned. Other materials he gathered sounded like some kind of farfetched fantasy as well. He so wanted to bang his head on a wall right now. Maybe if he hit his head hard enough, he would wake up from this 'nightmare'...

At last, the hunter pushed past his bitter thoughts as his mind drifted to something more enjoyable: Louise. Well, she's quite the adorable one, he had to admit. During these past few days, he had a lot of fun pushing her buttons and exploring her limits. She, of course, didn't find it enjoyable at all and instead, stepped up her effort in trying to turn him into some obedient slave of hers, asking him to do every-little-thing. He, in turn, had been having fun coming up new means to defy, manipulate, and tease her mercilessly in every way possible. To simply put it: he was playing mind games with her and enjoying her reactions. It helped him alleviates much of his stress. She was just being the unfortunate soul of being the subject of his amusement.

Thinking about Louise and fun, her friend/rival, Kirche, came to his mind, and she was pretty funny as well. She tried to approach him with every chance she got. Unfortunately for her, Louise was always in her way. It can get annoying at times but it was funny to watch them going at each other so he can't complain.

Meeting with Tabitha, the blue hair girl with the dragon, had somehow become part of his nightly routine. She came to the roof of that tower every night and they greeted each other in silent every time. He can sense she had issues of her own to dealt with and she's more than just a typical bookworm, but he never press her. After all, he had enough problems of his own already; he didn't need to get involve with hers. Plus, she never tried speaking to him in any way. It seems she simply enjoyed his silent presence and so that's all he will provide.

His train of thought was broken by a couple of maids talking in the background.

"Why don't you ask Siesta?"

"Huh? Didn't she say she will come back tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I saw her early. She say everything workout fine so she was able to come back earlier than she thought."

Upon hearing the news, Zero's grip on the clothes tightens. Soon afterward, a tearing sound was heard and the reploid frozen. He suddenly felt dread. Slowly, he turned his gaze to the nightgown he was washing. He stared at it and gulped; Siesta's stern warning three nights ago came rushing in.

-Flashback Start-

"_Zero-san, I have to leave tomorrow to attend some family matters and I won't be back for four days," Siesta said in a neutral tone. Then she put on a smile, got really close, and added, "If Miss Louise ever gave you clothes to wash, ask other maids to do it. Do not sneak off and attempt to do it on your own, got it, Zero-san?" Yes, she had put on a smile but Zero only felt a great chilling aura coming off of her the entire time. To put it simply: she was giving him a creepy smile. In fact, her body language was practically screaming of great consequences should he not listen..._

-Flashback End-

Obviously and despite all that, he hadn't heeded her warning. He had been washing Louise's clothes unsupervised since the day she left, and the toll had been high but his skills had improved. Fewer clothes were being destroyed each time he wash them, and his body was getting use to the task. He was doing great this time too: No clothes had been destroyed and he was almost done. He was on his way to a first-ever flawless record finish that was until he heard Siesta was already back and then everything went sour. He sighed. He knew he should have listened to her; however, his pride wouldn't let him lose to such a '_simple task_'. As a result, Louise's clothes paid the ultimate price.

But right now, what worries him was not the well being of Louise's clothes but own his skin. Yes, openly defies Siesta's request was not a good idea, he admits. Unlike Louise, who was predictable and have no choice but be stuck with him thus making her easy to deal with, Siesta harbors a different set of personalities and circumstances that could prove difficult to handle. Plus, anyone who could give out creepy smiles like hers should not be mess with... Staring at the torn nightgown, Zero decided it's best to retreat for now and slipped away quietly and inconspicuously while taking all the clothes with him.

When the legendary reploid turned servant got back to his master's room with all the clothes still in his hands, he started to think, his processor running in high gear. Suddenly, he detected a presence behind the door and then the doorknob begins to turn. Acting quickly and without much thought, he shoved all the clothes/evidence under Louise's bed.

The door opened and Louise walked in. She saw him and a frown quickly formed across her adorable features which was still quite adorable in his opinion. Frowning was normal for her as far as he can tell. She had been doing it at pretty much everything quite frequently since the day they met so it wasn't that surprising. However, she seemed to frown a bit more intensely and with increasing frequency these days especially when she's dealing him. Well, then again, it wasn't like he played no role in getting her this way. Playing mind games with her was fun and reduces his stress, but it increases her frustration which made her more demanding and even unreasonable at times.

The reploid contemplated whether to screw with her head a little less or stopped playing games with her all together. Without her to mess around with, he will need to figure out new sources of 'entertainments' or else he figured he will go 'Maverick' with all these stress. What this world call '_magic_' seems more like '_madness_' to him, and he had been forcing himself to go through it everyday. It was stressful, and Louise just happened to be there practically begging to be teased. He knew it was wrong to take it out on her, of course, but she was just so easy. In the end, he settled on trying to stop getting on her nerves. After all, it can't be healthy for her to always be on the edge. Perhaps he should start mending their relationship as well. It would make both their lives easier onward. And with his decision settled, Zero tried and put on a friendly smile.

Louise saw his smile and her frown deepened. "Come with me," she ordered harshly.

Zero winced a little at her harsh tone. _'Looks like I got a long way to go before I gets on her good side,'_ the reploid mused. He kept his smile and followed her out, totally forgetting about the clothes underneath her bed...

* * *

It was evening and Louise just had dinner. Arriving back to her room, her familiar was no where in sight. She wondered where he went. While she hadn't told him to stay put, he should know better than to just walk off elsewhere. She opened her drawer and fetch out a random nightgown before closing it. She got changed and decided to do some studying before going to bed.

Half an hour later, Louise put down her book and groaned. She cannot concentrate. Her mind was too preoccupied by that ungrateful familiar of hers. Where had he gone anyway? The young mage pick up a hairbrush and started combing her hair out of habit. While she was doing that, she started pondering about her familiar. The more she thought about him, the further her mood sank.

Her familiar, Zero: He was rude and obnoxious and had absolutely no respect whatsoever for her. All he ever does was to put on that stupid smirk of his and talk back to his master. It was so frustrating dealing with him, she had no word to describe it other than 'Arrrgghh'. Everything seemed like one big joke to him, and she swears he was doing it on purpose just to see her getting mad.

She slumped in her chair and scanned around the desk in front of her, eyes unfocused, mind blank. Before long, her eyes landed at the calendar on her desk with a certain date circled in red. She was brought back into focus by it but it only got her more depressed as she began to groan again. The red mark was a reminder that she would soon have to show off her familiar's skill(s) in front of her teachers and a lot of nobles, but with the way her familiar was right now...

Louise sighed and shook her head. She tried to bring out positive thoughts of him, but she soon found it was impossible to get anything positive out of him. He was as incompetent as it comes, and he lies like there's no tomorrow. Yes, she still remembered the night when he told her he was a magic knight. It had gotten her hope way high up into the clouds only for her hopes to crash down deep down into a valley when she learned he had no magic skills of any kind. Then there was Mr. Colbert's questions in which he lied about everything as far as she could tell. Come to think about it, the whole thing about a spell created by a young girl that stopped hunger was a big fat lie as well. She tightened her fists and slammed the desk in anger. How could she be so stupid to waste an entire day trying to learn a fake spell that didn't even exist? If she was to answer honestly, it was a matter of pride. Right now though, she was just pissed at both herself and her familiar - though mostly, at her familiar.

The pink haired girl groaned some more and started banging her head on her desk. "Positive thoughts, Louise, positive thoughts," she whispered to herself. "Think of his skills," she reminded herself. Well, there were a few. For one, he could put forward a bone chilling glare. She still had goosebumps whenever she thought of that intensive gaze. As impressive as that was, she can't have him go up on the stage and just do a glare. She would be a laughing stock if she did. Well then there was his impressive healing-hibernation technique, but it's not a skill that can be shown off to other people. After all, she cannot go cut him up and then have him sleep on the stage while they watch him heal. As tempting as it sounded for his punishment to all her suffering, she's no barbarian and so were the people watching. No one would enjoy that kind of show. Then there were his magically enhanced hairs, but what could she do with those? And honestly, who would magically reinforce their hairs anyway?! Stupid familiar; stupid commoner...stupid arrggh! "Positive thoughts, positive thoughts..." Louise took in a deep breath, calming herself, and began thinking once again. Alright, so she was left with his lock picking skill. Sure, he could pick a lock quickly, but that was not a skill useful in most circumstances. It was more of a shady skill that gave others the wrong idea. They would think that he was some kind of low life thief, and that would ruin her image.

The young mage plopped both her arms on her desk and slumped forward as she close her eyes. Why? What had she ever done to deserve this? She had been a good girl; she studied really hard for the summoning ritual; and she expected something really good to show up - like a dragon or a griffin; or anything, really, because it would certainly be better than what she had right now. And then she could show that to the people who doubted her abilities, especially Kirche, and they would stop writing her off as a failure. But now...

'_Why?'_ she thought. She even prayed to Founder Brimir the night before the sacred summon ritual - and many other nights before that as well. So, why did she get such an ungrateful and incompetent fool as her familiar? She was sure she asked for a creature of legend. Was she really that incompetent as a mage? In frustration, she started to trash around and knocked a couple bottles of perfume to the floor. One of those bottles rolled next to her bed.

Louise mentally counted up to ten to calm herself down. She sighed and began to pick up the bottles on the floor. She gathered the bottles and placed them back on her desk. When the teen count the bottles, she realized that her favorite one was missing. Scanning her room again, she saw the bottle was beside her bed. She went and picked it up.

Just as Louise pick up her bottle of perfume, the door to her room opened and Zero walked in. He just came back from the library.

Louise turned around to face him. With a frown, she asked, "Where have you been?"

"Oh you know, here and there. Just roaming around, watching the beautiful scenery. The usual," he answers nonchalantly.

"What time is it, you idiot? You should have stay by your master at all times and that is ME!" She emphasized herself loud and clear.

He smirked at her and countered, "Oh relax, Louise. It's not like you needed me here anyway."

'_Arrgghh! There goes his stupid smirk again,'_ she thought angrily. She was so frustrated she wasn't really thinking and she simply blurt out a response, "And how would you know that?"

'_There she goes: acting like a child,'_ Zero mused. His smirk grew wider and asked, "Well then, do you have a task for me to do?"

"... Humph!" Nothing came to mind and she turned her back on him. The girl climbed onto her bed and lay down. "Turn off the light," she command. Zero did as he was told and walk off somewhere. When she hear him opened the door, she shot up from her bed and ask, "Where are you going?"

"Well since there's nothing to do here, I am going out for a night walk," he answered.

"Then why did you bother to come back?!"

"I came by to say 'hi'. After all, I don't want you to think I went missing and starts a manhunt," he answered in an amusing tone.

"Arrgghh! Get out!"

"Yes, my lord," he answered amusingly and left.

* * *

It was another gorgeous day in Tristain Magic Academy. Snow-white-looking round tables with matching chairs were set up by hard working servants earlier so that students and familiars were able to enjoy the great outdoor and socialize with one another. Pairs and groups of students were showing off tricks that their familiars were able to do to one another, and they were generally having a great time. However, in one of those tables, sat Louise, who was alone, frowning, and in deep thought. Behind her stood Zero, her familiar, who had his hands behind his head and was looking around with a bored expression.

After a minute of doing nothing but just stood there like an idiot, Zero spoke thus breaking their awkward silence. "So, what were we doing here again?"

Louise, who was stuck thinking about her predicament from last night, was brought back to the reality. She turned to her familiar and asked, "Hey Zero, what other skills do you have besides lock picking?"

"Excuse me?" Zero blinked at her a couple of times as he thought, _'Okay, now what is she trying here?'_

"I am asking, 'what other skills do you have besides lock picking?'" she repeats her question.

Zero held one hand on his forehead and sighed, "Louise, what brought this on about?"

"Argh, just answer me! Why do you always have to be so difficult?!" she snapped.

His hand still on his forehead and slowly shook his head, he sighed before answering her, "Many."

"Like?" Louise asked as she watched him carefully, trying to determine if he was lying.

By now, Zero had figured that she probably just wanted to see some flashy skills that prove his worth. Most of his combat orientated skills could do just that, but he really didn't want to show off them for entertainment purposes. They just aren't meant for showbiz. That left his mind scrambling for other unusual or unique skills a reploid possess instead. "How about good memory? I could recite an entire book I just read without missing a single word," Zero said in a positive tone.

Louise simply stared at him. She was obviously unimpressed.

"No? Well how about the ability to draw great portrait. I could make them really life like," he said. While he had never drawn a single picture in his entire life, he was pretty confident he could do it. Being a reploid, he had the ability to reduce any image into pixels. All he had to do after that was to coordinate his pen or brush or whatever and fill in the dots. It will be like printing, only not very efficient using his hands.

Louise sipped some tea and stared straight ahead. She was no longer staring at him but, rather, into space.

'_She is brooding again,'_ Zero concluded. He had no idea what got her so upset all of a sudden. Whatever the case maybe, he knew he was probably the cause or part of the cause, and that made him feel at least a bit guilty. In any case, he would have to get her out of this slump as soon as possible. He scanned around the field and caught sight of a lizard. It reminded him of salamander and then Kirche. He smirked as his mind formed a plan.

"Hey Louise, what's the matter? Why are you all sad and lonely?" said a certain flirtatious voice.

That had instantly got Louise's attention as she began searching for her greatest nemesis, Kirche. She looked everywhere but she couldn't find any sign of her.

"Why, are you looking for me?" Zero, in Kirche voice, said as he smirked at her.

Louise narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Kirche, how did you get inside my familiar's head." Her familiar stood there for a few second as if to digest her words before chuckling at her. The creepy thing about his chuckles now was that it sounded very much like herself.

"Wow, Louise, you really aren't that bright are you?" Zero said, this time using her own voice.

Louise's eyes opened wide in surprise and asked, "You could mimic other people's voice?"

"Sure. It's one of the easiest things for us," the reploid said nonchalantly, still in her voice. "So, are you ready to tell me what you were brooding over this time?"

"Fine, but would stop mimicking my voice? It's creepy," she said. He nodded and she explained...

...

...

...

"And so you needed me to put on some kind of a show," he confirm to which she nodded.

"I don't know, but a man with a thousand voice doesn't really sound all that great," she said.

"Who say anything about me playing 'a man with a thousand voice'?"

"Then what was the purpose of showing me that?"

"Why, to mess with your head of course," he said that with a straight face as if it was a matter of fact. Immediately, she threw her cup at him to which he dodged with ease all the while grinning at her. Before she could voice her anger, he spoke with confidence, "Relax, Louise. I got just the skill to impress them all."

"Like?" she asked, skepticism lingered heavily in the air as she glared at him.

"You want to know?" he asked, looking serious. She humph-ed at him but nodded after a few seconds of staring contest with him - where he did the staring and she did the glaring. He crouched to her level and waved her to come closer. When she lent him her ear, he whispered slowly, "It's. A. Secret." Then he stood back up, smiling at her.

Louise growled and threw a tea pot at him to which he caught with ease. "Arrrgghh! Go get me more tea!" she yelled.

-z-z-

After getting some tea and snacks from a servant, Zero was getting ready to return to Louise. That was when he was spotted by a curly blond boy with his blonde girlfriend. "Oh, look. It's that rude familiar Louise the Zero summoned. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be by Louise's side? Or did she finally kick you out because of your insolence?"

Zero saw him from the corner of his eyes but he choose to ignore him and keep walking. Inside, he thought, _'Oh, great. It's Mr. Romeo again.'_

Curly blond would have none of that, however, and walked right in front of him. "Hey commoner, I am talking to you," said the blond blocking his way.

Zero mentally sighed and sarcastically responded, "Yo, lover-boy; didn't see you there."

The boy frowned at his attitude, but when he saw what Zero was holding in his hands, he started to grin, "Is that tea you got there? That's perfect. My girlfriend and I were just running out. Come over here and serve us, pageboy." The boy walked closer to him and insisted that he to go with him.

Normally, Zero had better things to do than serving that egotistical snob, but since he was so '_kindly_' invited to the boy's party, he decided to have some '_fun_' with him. Payback is a bitch anyway...

Zero observed the occupancy of curly blond's table as he followed the boy to his table. There sat a blond hair girl with a strange drill like hairstyle, sipping tea. Nearby, a giant mole like creature lay. It was a short walk and once Zero got there, the fun starts. "Is that your new girlfriend? What happened to the brown hair one you were with the other night?" the hunter starts by whispering the words to the blond boy but make sure he was loud enough for the girl to hear. This provoked an almost instantaneous effect from the blonde at the table as she narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend who turned slightly pale.

"What? Guiche, what did he just say? What brown hair one?" The girl frowned at him.

"N-nothing, Montmorency. He is just talking nonsense, aha ahahahaha," Guiche, the curly blond, reassures - or he tried to at least. He then turned to glare at Zero and snarled, "Why don't you get back to work, pageboy!"

"Oh, but I am working. You requested my service, remember?" Zero replied calmly. He began serving the girl some tea while ignoring the boy's angry glares. The reploid was not a bit phrased by the young mage. He even smiled and poured the boy a cup of tea as the girl was enjoying hers. He was just having fun.

"Hmm, I was wondering how she's doing?" Zero spoke out loud a few seconds later in a manner that may best be described as 'absentmindedly so', and he did it while the two nobles were having a sip of their tea.

Upon hearing his question, the boy choked on his tea while the girl watched on and scanned for anything particular.

Not letting the issue slide, Zero put on a smile and added, "Oh, by the way, what was her name again, Guiche?" He made sure he emphasized the boy's name in a suggestive way. Yes, he was enjoying every bit of this.

"She?! Who is she?! What is he talking about, Guiche?! Are you hiding something from me?" Montmorency questioned with a frown. She had watched Guiche's unusual behavior intently, and she had finally had enough of this. She wanted answers.

"N-no one, Montmorency. Please ignore him. He is delusional. He is just a familiar," Guiche said, downplaying Zero's worth and words as he glared at him. "We don't need your service here. Leave us!" the young mage hissed, dismissing the familiar. Desperately trying to shift her attention away from any suspicion created a few moments ago, he put on his charm and said, "There's never a hidden side in my affection for you." His voice was filled with passion.

...And it seems to work as the girl smiled in content and was blushing a bit. "You flattered me like always?" she said. However, as quickly as the blush appeared, it vanished, and her expression turned serious. "However, recently, I had heard rumors that you are starting to date a first year," she voiced her concern.

"Nonsense! I only have eyes for you," Guiche replied smoothly.

"Really?" she asked, skepticism lingers in her tone.

He stared passionately at her and said, "I never lie to your eyes." And that did it as the girl accepted his words.

Meanwhile, Zero was nearby, listening to their conversation and waiting for the 'fruit of his labor'. As he waited, he couldn't help but shook his head at the boy's words and the girl's reaction to them. To his disbelieve, the boy seemed to have somehow averted the crisis. 'Seriously, ugh, stupid teenage humans...' he thought, rolling his eyes at the outcome. But by doing so, he just happened to spot a certain brown hair girl from the corner of his eyes. Yes, the brown hair girl from the other night and she seems to be looking for someone.

Zero decided the blond boy would need to learn his lesson that it's easy to invite the devil, but it's not so easy to get rid of one. His lip started to twist upward all the way into a toothy grin. He 'was' about to leave since there was nothing much he could do to mess things up, but it seems like fate wanted to extend this party a little longer and his chibi-inner-devils were cheerily urging him to party along. The hunter agreed and began walking over to the brown hair girl.

"Oh Lord Guiche, where are you?" the brown hair girl murmured to no one in particular but by then Zero was only a few feet away.

"Ah, '_Lord Guiche_' is that way," the hunter said as he pointed the girl to Guiche's direction which was a little bit off. Apparently the blond boy had somehow spotted the brown hair girl and was currently attempting to relocation himself and the blond girl, Montmorency.

Nonetheless, the brown hair girl spotted him and ran up to him. "Lord Guiche!" she exclaims in admiration.

Knowing he had not escaped unnoticed, Guiche let go of Montmorency's hand. "K-Katie," his mouth slipped. "Hi," he said, trying to act cool.

"Ahh, so her name was Katie," Zero commented cheerfully from the background, reminding the blond hair girl of their previous conversation. This earned the reploid an evil glare from the blond boy while his girlfriend studied him closely, looking for anything suspicious.

Not understanding what's going on, Katie, the brown hair girl, ignored the strange comment and excitedly greeted, "Lord Guiche, I have been searching for you."

From the background, Zero cheerily added, "That's right, '_Lord Guiche_', she had been searching for you." The suggestive tone the reploid used earned him more evil glares from Guiche, which did not last long as his attention was drawn back to the two girls.

The blond hair girl stared intensely at her boyfriend as the brown hair one spoke, "I thought I'd bring the soufflé that I was talking about last night for tea-time." Katie raised the basket in her hand and smiled. She seemed completely obvious to the tense atmosphere around her.

"Ooh, last night..." said Zero playfully, which earned him more evil glares from the blond boy, an irritated glance from the blond girl, a confused look from the brunette, and general laughter from the few that had gathered around.

"Guiche?!" Montmorency inquired, putting the attention back at the blond boy.

"Ah... well that's..." Guiche stuttered.

"What was it about last night?" Montmorency asked calmly or at least that's what it looks like on the surface. But if one was to look closer, the underlining anger was all too evident.

"...Ah, you see... um," said Guiche, trying hard to come up with an excuse that could satisfy both girls. He fully knew how close Montmorency was to go ballistic on him but he also didn't want to hurt the innocent Katie as well. He was caught in a bind and that damn familiar was making it worse! As the young noble tried to come up with a reply, he could only shift between staring angrily at the familiar and desperately trying to avoid eye contacts with the girls.

Zero's response was just an amusing smile. Then, in the background, he cheerfully added, "What's wrong '_Lord Guiche_'? Shouldn't you be happy to have such a pretty girl making soufflé for you?" Yes, the reploid was sending the blond boy a one way trip to hell, and he felt not a single ounce of remorse doing so. Contrary, he felt exhilarated just to see the boy struggling to dig himself out of this one and failing miserably.

"What is the meaning of this, Guiche?!" Montmorency asked impatiently. She knew Guiche was up to something, and she was getting impatient at his runaround answers.

"That's right, Guiche; I think you should really explain to these girls what's '_really_' going on," said Zero in the background, his tone was entirely too happy.

While Katie was looking back and forth between Guiche and Zero in confusion, Montmorency was narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend in suspicion. In a desperate attempt, Guiche went on the offensive as he tried to divert attention away from him and said, "What have you been talking about all this time?! You're making these ladies getting the wrong idea."

"Wrong idea? Hah, I was just giving you the opportunity to come clean about double dating these girls," Zero countered, spilling the beads and put the attention right back on him. By now, a whole crowd of students had gathered around to watch the spectacle.

"Double dating?" Katie said in disbelieve.

"So you did lay your fingers on this first year!" Montmorency shouted, her face contorted in anger.

"Please, The Perfume Montmorency, please do not distort your rose-like face in anger," Guiche said, desperately trying to calm her down. "This is some kind of a mistake, and..."

"You are horrible! You said I am the only one," said Katie who was on the verge of tear.

"Anyway, both of you calm down," pleaded Guiche.

"You liar!" both girl shouted in union and slapped him hard enough to knock him down before storming away, while Zero watched in satisfaction from a short distance away. All around, students were laughing at poor Guiche.

After a couple more chuckles of his own, Zero prepares to leave. Before he was able to take the steps, Guiche got back up. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at him and calmly spoke, "It seems I will have to teach you the proper etiquette of speaking with nobles, familiar."

If the dangerous glare Guiche was giving Zero was meant to instill fear into the familiar, it failed miserably; because the reploid simply smirked at the boy and mirthfully replies, "No thanks. Learning from you and all I'll be saying would be: '_I only have eyes for you_' or '_There's never a hidden side in my affection for you_'." The reploid make sure to emphasize the two phrases in the most embarrassed way possible which prompted lots of laughter from everyone around.

Guiche ignored the laughter around him as his lip twisted upward into a predatory grin. "It's a duel then."

"Huh, a duel? You want to fight me?" said Zero, raising his eyebrows in question as if the boy had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"That's right, a duel. You are a commoner and only a familiar, and yet you insulted me and, above all, made two ladies cry!" Guiche declared, trying to justify his action.

"You mean you made the two ladies cry right? After all, you are the one they are mad at," corrected Zero, which earned laughter from the crowd.

"Anyway, I shall teach you some respect for nobles. You better be ready! I'll be waiting for you at Vestry field," the boy said before leaving.

Zero placed one hand on his forehead and sighed. Shaking his head a few times, he let loose a few chuckles. _'Oh boy, and he keep digging himself deeper,'_ thought the legendary hunter.

As he turned around, he saw a pale looking Siesta. She looked like she had seen a ghost or something. "Zero-san, I heard you angered a noble..." the maid mumbled. All the color on her face seems to have been drained away. "You're going to die..." she said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tear.

Zero looked at the maid and sighed. _'Do I really look that weak?'_ he pondered. "Don't worry, Siesta. Nothing is going to happen to me," he replied with a reassuring smile. "In fact, you should come see me teaching him a lesson. It will be fun; I promise," the hunter gave her a laugh and promptly walk pass her. He didn't even take more than ten steps before Louise came rushing in.

"What do you think you are doing?!" screamed Louise once she grab hold of him.

"Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me," she commanded and she dragged him along. "What are you thinking accepting a duel like that?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Hmm? Heh, well, I never run from a challenge," he stated simply.

Louise turned around and gave him a look of disbelieve to which he simply smile back. The girl rolled her eyes at his carefree response before turning back and dragged further him along.

"By the way, Louise, where are we going?" he asked.

"You are going to apologize to Guiche," she explained.

"Huh?" was his reply.

"He might still forgive you," she said.

Zero stopped following her and said, "You got to be joking."

Louise turned around and shouted, "You don't understand anything. A commoner cannot win against a noble. You will be lucky if you could get away with only injuries."

Zero sighed. He can tell her tone was one filled with concerns. _'It seems I am being severely underestimated here,'_ he thought. The thought she was worried over him fighting a little boy when he had face foes far worse was hard to describe. He didn't know if he should feel grateful that she was genuinely worried for his well being, be amused because she had got the situation all wrong, or feel insulted for she thought he was nothing but a weakling. _'Perhaps its time I earn some respects around here,'_ Zero thought.

He placed both his hands on Louise's shoulders and stared directly at her. To easy her anxiety, the reploid joked, "Don't worry, Louise, he's just a little boy. Beside, after surviving through countless battles, if I am finally to be done in by that little brat, well then, so be it." Zero's eyes were filled with mirth and his tone was that of carefree and cheerful, perhaps too cheerful.

"Not everything is a joke, Zero! You could die!" Louise glared at him in defiance, looking straight into his eyes.

"Louise," Zero started off with the same mirthful gaze and carefree tone but then his eyes sharpened, his smile ceased, and his tone became serious. "Does it look like I am joking here?"

Louise was promptly lost in him. She could tell his tone carried tremendous amount of confident and his gaze held utmost honesty, but somewhere deeper within his eyes, his soul, she saw something else. She can't quite describe it but she felt an immeasurable amount of... pressure... aura... raw power... or something. It was like staring deep into the mystery of the universe. It left her both speechless and stunned. All she could do was gaping at him with her mouth open and closing.

With Louise stunned, Zero turned around cheerily and asked a fat boy nearby, "Hey, you, where is Vestry field?"

"Oh, it's that way," the boy in question pointed.

The reploid thanked the boy and started to walk in the direction he pointed, leaving a still-stunned Louise behind.

-z-z-

Zero arrived at Vestry field some minutes later. The hunter had both hands behind his head and was walking at a luxurious pace. He even whistled blissfully as his eyes roamed around, taking in the scenery. Guiche was already there waiting for him, but he pay him no attention, not even a glance. In other words, the hunter was saying that the noble wasn't worth his time. When the reploid was a few feet away from Guiche, he finally spared the boy a glance. The young blond had a red rose in one hand and was frowning at him. Zero's lips started twisting up into an arrogant smirk - or perhaps it was a predatory grin...

Guiche frowned at the familiar's carefree attitude but then reminded himself that he would soon teach this foul commoner a lesson and wipe that smirk off his face. The thought of that had his own lips twisted upward into a wicked grin. "I compliment you for no running away, commoner," he starts, all thoughts was focused into how to punish this ill-mannered familiar.

"Huh? Heh. Why would I be running away?" Zero laughed, totally relaxed. "Anyway, are you sure you wanted to do this? It's the last chance for you to back off and save yourself from some major humiliation, boy," Zero announced. It was truly the last chance the legendary hunter was giving him.

"What's wrong, familiar? Are you afraid?" Guiche said, smiling arrogantly as he close his eyes and smell his rose.

"Me? Hardly," answered a carefree familiar before putting one hand up in a signal to slow things down a bit. "But before we start, why don't we set a wager?"

"Oh, like what do you have in mind?" said the boy, not really caring.

"Like the winner get to do whatever he want to the loser," proposed Zero, still smirking.

"Oh, and are you prepared for what I had in mind for you, familiar?" Guiche responded. His mind was focusing on how to punish this disrespectful familiar.

"Me? Heh, you don't have to worry. You on the other hand... heh, let's hope you won't be screaming 'mommy' by the end of this, boy," the reploid chuckled. His words infuriate Guiche and cause the students around them to burst out in laughter. Vaguely, the hunter heard Louise saying something in the crowd but he ignored it and smiled in satisfaction as the boy's face contorted in anger.

"Argh! Let's start, familiar!" Guiche shout. Waving his rose around, a single pedal fell from the rose and onto the ground.

Zero watched the pedal touching the ground and the ground shone in white as some kind of armor started to rise from there. The hunter made a whistle but made no other move as he observed the armor. The shape of the armor was clearly for a woman. The composition of this thing was mostly bronze as he vaguely heard Guiche saying something about 'bronze Valkyrie'. The weapon for this armor set was a lance of unimpressive quality just like the rest of its empty shell. _'What is the boy thinking, summoning an armor that wasn't even made for him? Is he really so incompetent that he can't even make something that fits him?'_ the reploid thought amusingly. His amusement rapidly turned into astonishment seconds later as the boy wave his rose and the set of armor came to life and charged at him. How an empty set of armor was able to move on its own was beyond him, however, he wasn't really worry. As astonishing as it was to see that thing moving on its own, the hunter cannot really see much threat coming from it. To put it simple: in the hunter's eyes, this thing wouldn't even qualify for a substandard-ed cannon fodder...

-z-z-

Louise had recovered from her daze and chased after her familiar. _'No matter how experience he may be, there's no way he could beat a mage with no magical power,'_ she thought. She couldn't help but worried for her familiar's well being. She arrived to the scene and dived into the crowd. She could hear her familiar infuriating Guiche with that sharp tongue of his, and she cursed his bad habits of pissing off just about everyone. "What do you think you are doing, Zero?!" she screamed at him, her voice full of concerns. However, it was drown out by the sea of cheers and laughter that the crowd of students was generating. By the time she got to the front of the crowd, the fight had already started. Time seems to have slowdown for her as she watched Guiche's bronze golem charged toward her familiar who just stood there like an idiot with one hand behind his back and the other by his side.

Louise watched in dread as the golem close the distance between her familiar and itself and prepares to strike. Her eyes flew back to her familiar who simply stood there with a bored expression, totally relaxed and totally prone to attack. _'What is he thinking?!'_ her mind screamed. She had expected him to dodge, to run, to get out of the way but not just standing there!

The golem's fist shot forward, aiming straight for Zero's abdomen. Louise winced and everyone around gasped when the golem seemingly connected the nasty body blow.

She and everyone expected him to crouch over in pain. There's simply no way the familiar could withstand such a blow. Seconds pass by like an hour as she and everyone waited for him to droop over from that gut wrenching punch. However, against all expectations, her familiar stood unmoving with the same bored expression on his face, like nothing had happen. If she and others had pay closer attention, they would have noticed that the golem had never landed the punch. It was intercepted by Zero's palm and trapped there.

When the hunter's lip started to twist upward into his typical smirk and spoke, time for her finally went back to normal.

-z-z-

"What's wrong, boy? Don't tell me that thing was just for a show," Zero mocked, indicating the lance in the golem's other hand. "Want to try this again?" He mocked smugly and shoved the golem's trapped hand onto its chest then promptly let go, causing it to fell backward.

"You have a death wish or something, familiar?" Guiche asked while smelling his rose, an arrogant smile plastered on his face. "If I-" he begin but was cut off.

"Stop being such a baby. I am telling you to come at me with everything you got. Or was that too hard for your childish mind to understand, boy?" came the response from Zero.

All around, students encouraged Guiche to go for it. He gritted his teeth before waving his rose around, ordering his golem to attack with its weapon. The golem dash forward and started thrusting its lance at Zero.

Zero dodged the pointy tip left and right while backing away. He decided to humor the boy and the students a bit by doing nothing but dodging for the time being and with his hands behind his back no less. The golem's offense went on for a full minute, and he smiled as he dodged every oncoming attack.

Although Louise's familiar have dodged every attack so far, he have been doing nothing but dodging therefore Guiche believed he was winning and went on to gloat, "What's the matter, familiar? Is that all you got?" Soon, the boy's tone turned serious, and with conviction, he stated. "I will have you know that no lowly commoner like you can defeat a noble like me!"

"Hmm, is that so?" Zero replied casually, the smirk still on his face. He had been toying with the boy, but he decided to quit doing that for now and show the naive child who is the top dog between them.

The reploid easily sidestepped a jab aimed for his head and grabbed onto the lance. Quickly stepping toward the golem before it had a chance to recover from its frontal thrust, Zero kicked at its leg, causing it to lost its balance and fell forward. While still holding onto the lance the golem was clutching, the reploid pulled and flipped the unbalanced golem onto its back. Once the golem landed, the reploid quickly yanked loose the lance from its grip. With the weapon in his hand, Zero spun it around rapidly and gathered momentum before swinging at his downed opponent's midsection. Using the sharp edge located at the tip of the weapon, the reploid slash and cut his opponent in half.

Guiche stood and watched as Louise's familiar defeated his golem with seemingly ease. He was surprised and could only stare and wondered what just happened. The students were thinking along the same thing and went silent. Everyone was left staring at Louise's familiar and among themselves in confusion. Seconds later, some among them began to cheered, and the cheering grew louder.

The students were excited and cheered for both contestants. Guiche received cheers because he was a noble and a clear favorite to win. Zero received cheers because he provided good entertainment. There's no doubt in everyone's mind that the familiar was the underdog and will lose as soon as Guiche gets serious, but most were just excited to see how long he could last. A few, though, wished for an upset.

Easily ignoring the reactions from the crowd, Zero settled his newly acquired weapon onto the ground. Holding it with his right hand, the flat diamond shaped tip pointed toward the sky in a default non-combat position. Then, with his left hand on his waist and eyes full of mirth, the reploid calmly turned toward Guiche and mocked, "Oh and, you were saying?"

"Grrrgh!" Guiche growled his frustration as the students laughed. The familiar was making a fool out of him! He'll show him! "So what if you got lucky and destroyed one golem? I can make more," he declared angrily. There's no doubt in his mind that it was a fluke that this commoner managed to defeat his golem. He can see no other reason. With that in mind, the mage proceeded to summon his golems again. Two bronze golems rise from the ground. This time, they were armed with broadswords and round shields.

Zero raised an eyebrow at the boy as he summoned two more of those puppets. Apparently he hadn't realized that those junks are nothing more than some pretty decors. No matter how many more he sent out, they are not going to make any difference. In fact, he bet even an unarmed Alouette could have easily tear them to pieces if she tries.

The reploid waited calmly for the boy to make his move. He stood and observed as the young mage sent his two golems charging. The first one charged in fast with its shield leading the way, while the other one kept a few pace behind, caution and ready for any counter measures.

Zero waited until the very last second before he acts. He released his grip on the lance and shifted to his right, dodging a shield bash aimed for his chest by the first golem. As he shifted, his left hand grabbed onto the lance, holding it steady. At the same time, the legendary hunter's left foot kicked at the base of the weapon, causing it to spin outward. Quickly adjusting the angle of the spin, he aimed the base of his weapon at the foot of the first golem that was still in the process of rushing past him after missing its initial strike. The pole struck the left ankle of his opponent, causing it to lose its balance and fell face first into the ground. He walked forward, ignoring the first golem and engaging the second all the while keeping a backspin to his weapon.

Faster and faster Zero's weapon spun, Guiche decided to put his second golem on guard while he waited for his first to get back on its feet. Zero, however, would give him no such luxury.

The hunter rushed forward, weapon spinning, and aimed carefully so that the sharp edge of the spearhead struck the wrist of the golem's sword wielding hand. The blade sliced the wrist clean off, but before gravity have time to claim the appendage, the base of the lance struck it high up into the sky - sword and all. The reploid was not done. He quickly danced to the side of his opponent and swung low. His aim was deliberate. The pole struck the back of the golem's knees, forcing them buckled. As the golem kneeled and collapsed into all four, Zero spun his weapon once more. Wearing it like a staff, he struck the back of the golem with enough force to crack its armor and force it flat kissing the ground. Afterward, the hunter turned to stare at the boy impassively before pointing his weapon at the golem's prone form and ruthlessly plunged his spear onto its back and deep into the ground, impaling it. The golem thrashed around a bit before stopping all together.

At the same time that Zero impaled the second golem, the first got back to its feet. Seeing the familiar was occupied with finishing off one of his golem, Guiche quickly sent his remaining one charging. He was so preoccupied that he hadn't realized the familiar was looking at him. All he cared about at the moment was that the familiar's lance was stuck deep in the ground, and this was his best chance to strike. Better yet, his opponent was facing him so his back was wide open for his golem to attack. He smirked and was ready to throw in a witty comment about the commoner's mistake. However, his witty comment never came and his smirk ceased a fraction of a second later when he saw what the familiar did.

From the corner of his eyes, Zero saw the other golem was charging in fast. He, however, made no move to get out of its way. Instead, the hunter simply stood and continued to stare impassively at the boy before raising his left hand and catch a certain falling object all without moving his gaze. Say object turned out to be his late victim's hand and sword. Lazily, the reploid pealed the golem's hand off hilt of the sword and took hold of his new weapon, all the while ignoring the one charging from behind. At this point, the golem was within striking range and lunged forward, weapon pointed at its adversary. Zero reacted by swinging his blade backward, from bottom up, before lowering the blade by his side and took a step to the side at the very last second as the golem charged past him. His backward slash was done so quickly that almost everyone missed it. Only a few with some experiences in the field of high speed combat saw it; but even so, all they saw was a blur.

Just when everyone thought the golem had finally landed a blow, a fatal blow, the familiar somehow managed to slip away. Still, many believed the familiar had to suffer at least some sort of injuries from that and gasped in anticipation. They were soon gasping in surprised instead when he stood, blade by his side, and with no apparent injury of any kind. What they found even more surprising was the fact that Guiche's golem had inexplicably fell into the ground and split in two from navel up as soon as it rushed past the familiar. They had no explanation for it...

Judging from the shocking expressions he saw across the field, Zero concluded that none was able to see what he did, which was pitiful, really, because he had '_barely_' moved. The reploid took a moment to look at the boy and found him staring at his golem in disbelieve. His eyes widened; his mouth opened; and he was looking every bit just as astonished as just about everyone else. But the real problem was that he took his eyes off his opponent and gawked like an idiot. He appeared to have forgotten that he was still engaged in a duel...

Zero shook his head and sighed but decided to cut the boy some slack. He is just a boy after all. While the hunter waited for the boy to recover, he spotted something on his blade. He brought it up, ignoring many curious stares from all around, and examined it. The blade appeared to be full of cracks. He must have used too much force in that previous strike. He flicked a finger onto the side of the blade, testing it. The blade shattered into many pieces.

Guiche recovered from the shock of losing his other golem. He watched the familiar took up his blade and appeared to be examining it. Like everyone else, he was curiously at what the familiar was doing. When the blade broke, he jumped in surprise. Faintly, he heard the commoner muttering about something cheap or so. He continued watching curiously as his adversary tossed the broken blade over his shoulder nonchalantly and walked toward the remains of his golem - the one that got split in half from navel up. He was mesmerized at just how carefree the familiar was.

Zero casually bent down and picked up the blade from the carcass of the other golem. As he did so, he added, "So, are you ready to beg for mercy yet, boy?" His tone was entirely cheerful and carefree, almost teasingly so.

That snapped Guiche back to reality, and he felt pressured. By now, the young mage realized the opponent before him was no joke. Still, he stood his ground as best as he could, his pride not allowing him to back down, not one bit. Then he curse himself when he realized he just missed the best chance to attack his then weaponless opponent, being too absorb in watching what he was doing instead. And now he needed to response to this damned commoner as not to lose face. Putting on a brave face, or as brave as he could muster at the moment, he replied, "D-don't be so confident, fa-familiar. I-I could crush you anytime I wish!" He boasted the last part loudly, trying in part to convince everyone else and, in part, himself. He needed that reassurance. Plus, he reasoned that if his words can intimidate his foe, even if he cannot really backup what he said, then-

"Bring it on, kiddo. Show me what you got," taunted Zero in a mirthful, mocking tone.

"Grrrgh!" Guiche growled. The familiar had mocked him once again. Fueling with rage, he momentarily forgot his new found wariness for his opponent and summoned six new golems, the highest number he can control, all wearing swords and shields and ready for battle. No sooner than that, he sent them all in.

Once again, Zero decided to play nice and dance in between the six golems. Every movement of his was calculated. He would gracefully move in and out of harms way. Many times, he would simply move away ever so slightly so that his attackers would miss him by an inch or so, and he often did that at the last second too. Occasionally he would trip one or slightly push the other, causing them to either fall onto the ground or on top of each other. He does all of this while putting on an arrogant smirk, seemingly to just taunt the young mage. Oh, he was enjoying this.

A minute past and no progress were made, but Guiche had not given up yet. In fact, he tried even harder, urging his golems to strike harder, faster, aim better. He waved his rose/wand around faster and faster, hoping to land a blow, any blow. He was irritated, angry, and anxious all rolled into one.

To Zero, however, the young mage looked more like a madman trying to whack imaginary butterflies. It was simply hilarious. As the legendary reploid continued to toy with the young boy, he noticed the golems' movements were getting sloppier by the second.

Another minute later, Guiche was breathing heavily, but he was still waving around his wand. The golems, though, were beginning to bump into each other more and more often and without any 'assistance' too. Base on what he saw, the reploid concluded that the boy was probably exhausted both mentally and physically. He decided to give him yet another break and put some distance between himself and the boy's toys. He stood in a very relaxed position and mockingly said, "Heh heh, you don't look so good, boy. Need a moment to catch your breath? You look like you're about to collapse." He may have concurred to cut the boy some slack but that doesn't mean he would be nice about it.

"What's the matter, commoner? Are you getting tire?" Guiche panted out his response and stopped his attack to catch some much needed breath. The familiar responded by smirking and raising his weapon. Knowing his opponent was ready to continue the duel, he quickly added, "Very well, I shall let you have some rest." He continued to pant heavily and glared at the familiar who simply stared amusingly at him with a huge arrogant smirk across his face. "Make no mistake, commoner, I will defeat you shortly!" he boasted loudly. He knew it was an empty threat but he had to try.

Zero took this timeout to fully observe his audience. The majority of the students watching this duel were no longer cheering at this point. They had largely either fallen into silent or whispering among themselves, unsure of what's to come.

The students' initial believes that Guiche would win effortlessly were pretty much gone as the tide seemed to have turn to the commoner's favor once more. Still, they were hoping their classmate would come up with something new and turn this around. Watching this duel was akin to watching a very good thriller and they were kept on the very edge of their sits. They don't want this to end yet, not when Louise's familiar was winning. To them, Guiche was the protagonist, and Louise's familiar was the baddy, and everyone wanted to see the good guy takes home the win. Well, of course there were exceptions as some took on a neutral stance. A few others and Louise had a complete different view as to who the protagonist was. However, only Louise was cheering openly and loudly.

Speaking of Louise, Zero had kept tabs on her throughout the fight as well as the students, and he found her changes in behaviors and expressions to be the most amusing so far. Like the rest of students, she would gape when it looked like he took in a particular nasty hit, except her reaction was far more anxious than they were. However, she would breathe a sigh of relieve later when he emerged unharmed. Whenever Guiche goes on the offensive, she would cover her mouth and start biting her nails. When he turned the table on that naive little brat, she would get all excited and cheered him on. Seriously, she looked like one of those amateur gamblers who had just throw in a large bet and watch their pick go neck and neck with another (like horse racing). But then, he '_is_' her familiar so she '_does_' have a stake in this...

While the familiar was looking around and into the crowd, Guiche was glaring solely at his foe as he catches his breath. The current predicament he found himself in was not amusing, and he had no idea how to get out of it. If the familiar hadn't called for a break, he might have collapse from exhaustion. He needed a plan, because brute force alone just wasn't enough. Having a moment to rest was a good thing as it allowed him to think more clearly. He realized he faces two problems: One being the familiar dodges around way too much. He needed to restrict the familiar's movement somehow. The second problem he had, his biggest problem, was getting all flustered because of the familiar's taunting. If he was to win, he needed to stay cool and move his golems in formations. Hopefully, it would be enough to force the familiar into a corner.

After a while, Zero refocused his attention on that naive little boy he's dueling with. The boy seemed to have all rested up so he begins, "I see you have rest enough. So are you ready to continue this duel? Or have you finally come to your senses and ready to admit defeat?"

There he goes again, trying to infuriate him. He is not going to fall for that again. Guiche spread out his golems and surrounds the familiar. He will make his move carefully this time.

Zero raised an eyebrow at the boy, totally unconcerned about being surrounded. "Heh heh, tell you what, kiddo. If you admit defeat and back down now, your punishment will be akin to a slap on the wrist, nothing major. But if you choose to continue down this course, you will regret it," he offered nonchalantly. He was feeling generous today.

Guiche growled at Zero's taunt but kept his cool and sent in his golems, more organized this time. Half a minute later, his formations crumbled. He now realized formations alone was not enough. His opponent was an excellent fighter, and he can out maneuver him with little effort. He needed something more, another plan perhaps, and he needed it fast.

Another minute had past since Zero laid down his offer. He was now dancing in between five golems but the hunter was starting to get bore. The boy had improved his skill this time around; not by much but he did improved. However, if the boy thought for a second that he stood any chance at all, he's clearly delusional. The reploid also noted that the brat had pulled out one of his puppet and placed it next to himself in guarding position about half a minute earlier. Like that could stop him if he ever decides to strike, the reploid mused. This duel had been dragged out for far too long and he decided it's about time to end it. The question was how he should go on about ending it. On one hand, he could approach this in a normal human way and just destroy these toys the way he had done before and make the boy submit afterward. Or he could go for the flashier 'shock and awe' option that would without a doubt raise many curious eyebrows...

While Zero was having an internal debate, Guiche was quietly modifying the golem next to him. From the mage's perspective, the familiar's tactic was to dodge everything and hope he would collapse from exhaustion. True: if he was to keep sending in his golems like the way he had done so far, he will collapse sooner or later. However, he had a plan.

Once Guiche complete modifying his golem, he sent it in quickly and quietly. The newer version of the golem wore no sword nor shield. Instead, it had two one-meter long chains dangling on both of its wrists. Its armor was streamlined; its legs were less bulk and more nimble. Just as the modified golem gets into position, Zero began terminating his other golems, one after another. Guiche cursed his luck but refrain from changing his plan. Instead, he quickly created more regular ones to replace those destroyed. He's running low on mana as it was and the familiar was coming onto him fast. He didn't have time for a change of plan. If he's to turn this around, it's all or nothing.

Zero easily cut down three more of those jokers and seized another blade. More were summoned to replace them. Not that it really matters, he thought as he calmly advance toward the boy while cutting down any 'obstacle' that gets in his way. He noted that the brat had sent in his 'body guard' to the front line. _'Perhaps he was getting desperate,'_ the reploid thought amusingly. Its design was clearly different and its movement was better than the rest, but still, he didn't pay much attention to it. If it comes, he will cut it down just like the rest of them.

As Zero advanced, the golems' movements got sloppier. Not that the hunter could blame him. After all, the boy was now under tremendous pressure, juggling between summoning new ones to replace the destroyed and controlling the others. On top of that, the duel would be effectively over if he get close enough, yet there's nothing that could stop him.

Never mind stopping him; even slowing him down proved to be an impossible task. By now, anyone can see the situation does not bode well for the boy, yet he did not give up. Zero was somewhat impressed by the boy's resolve to stand firm but that does not mean he would go easy on him. Oh no, he gets tougher instead, much tougher. He quickened his pace. His blows became faster and more accurate; cutting down golems faster than the boy could replace them. The added pressure had the boy swung his rose/wand franticly, and his breathing had once again started to shorten and became erratic as he backs away.

Perhaps it was due to desperation, but the boy finally decided to let his customized puppet to go for an up close encounter with him. Of course it was done by approaching him from behind but at least it was no longer running around far out of reach and doing nothing. Once that customized golem got into range, a quick precise slash to its midsection cut the thing in half. Just like the rest of them, one hit and it's done. It didn't even have a chance to make any move. And to add even more insult, this time, Zero did it without even looking. A sudden horizontally swipe to the back was all it took; the last hope of the boy gone...

... Or was it? Perhaps not as Zero felt something latched onto his back. A quick glance revealed that it was the very same customized golem he thought he took care off like less than a second ago. _'How was it able to latch onto my back?'_ the hunter thought. He turned his head to take a better look. The bottom half of that golem was laying on the ground with the upper half missing. That meant only the upper half was latched onto him. He was mildly surprised that that thing could still move with half of its body detached. But then again, it '_is_' magic. The hunter refrained from rolling his eyes at such thought.

While Zero was having his moment, the golem took that chance to wrap its chains around him, binding his arms to his sides. Guiche also took this chance to quickly summon and replenish his forces. Once the customized golem secured its target, a back section of its armor open up and five chains flew out from it in five different directions. With no hesitation, Guiche quickly command the rest of his golems to catch the chains and spread out evenly. With a single wave of his wand, all five golems jammed their blades onto the chains and drove them deep into the ground.

Now that the familiar seemed to be secured and won't be going anywhere, Guiche finally let loose a breath of relieve. Actually he panted like he had just ran a marathon, but the important thing was that he won. Or at least that's what it seemed...

While Guiche was panting like a dog, Zero took his time and calmly observed his surrounding. Not surprisingly, everyone was cheering euphorically at Guiche apparent victory and his imminent defeat while Louise watched in horror. Zero could not help but smiled. The change in her expressions from 'go go victory' to 'oh no panicky' was priceless, and it amused him to no end.

"Ha ha," Guiche laughed as he pants. "May-maybe now, YOU should," he said, panting and coughing. "-consider begging for mercy, commoner," he taunted and took in a deep breath.

Zero turned to the mage. He was mildly surprised the brat would use his own words to taunt him. However, the sight that greeted him was simply amusing. There the teen was, barely able to stand and panting like a dog, trying to intimidate him: Hilarious. Then again, the hunter wasn't looking all that great at the moment either, being tied up and all. But looks can be deceiving...

"Have you considered that?" Guiche mocked, taking in another deep breath.

Zero looked at the teen and smiled genuinely. "Very good, kiddo. I definitely did not expect that, very good," he commended the boy. Then, his eye narrowed, his smile ceased, and his tone became serious as he said, "However, my offer still stands." With commanding presence, he warned, "Stand down and beg for mercy or face the consequences, boy!"

A look into Zero's eyes, Guiche involuntarily took a step backward and nearly stumbled off his feet. He was taken aback by the fierce nature of the familiar's glare. But upon realizing the familiar was still bound by his golem, his concerns eased. _'He is still all chained up. He can't go anywhere. He is all talk and no bite. That got to be it,'_ the mage thought. Gaining confidence, he spoke, "H-ha, like you are in position to offer any, com-commoner." Guiche stared directly at the familiar as he spoke but his confidence soon started to waver. There was just something about the familiar's demeanor that unnerved him. "An-any la-last w-words?"

Predictably, the familiar's only response was a huge smirk across his face. Guiche growled and reequip his golems. The familiar did nothing but stare. That fueled the mage's confidence in believing that the familiar was all talk only. He put on a smirk of his own and prepares to send in his golems.

"W-wait!" A pleading shout from the spectators broke the concentration of both combatants. It was Louise. She quickly dashed in front of her familiar and faced Guiche. "I think this duel has gone far enough. W-why don't we call it off, hmm? A-after all, duels are prohibited," said the pink haired girl, trying to end this quickly and without bloodshed to her familiar. She even threw in some logics or rules to her argument, although they were flawed, very flawed.

"Duels are only prohibited between nobles. He's a commoner. There is no problem. Plus he had to learn his lesson for disrespecting us nobles," countered Guiche as he place his rose/wand up his nose, which doesn't have that many petals left, and smell it.

"But-"

"And weren't you the one cheering for him all this time, Louise?"

"That is..." mumbled Louise as she lowers her head, face red with embarrassment at being caught.

"Ha, what's the matter? Don't tell me your girly heart had been moved by this rude familiar."

"What!? N-no way! Who would fall for that! Don't be ridiculous!" denied Louise as she stomped over to Guiche and glared at him. "I just can't bear getting my familiar all beaten up!" she screamed, clearly upset over the accusation.

"Oh and you are all happy and cheery when he threaten to attack me. Humph, I am just teaching your familiar how to behave properly," Guiche answered coolly as he stared back at Louise.

"But he haven't done anything even when he had the chance," argued Louise as she stared straight into Guiche's eyes.

"Ch-chance? What chance? I don't know what you are talking about," said Guiche, avoiding eye contact. "H-he clearly never had a chance to begin with," stated Guiche, trying to salvage his pride. "However, since I am such a gentleman, I might forgive him if he's willing to kneel before me and apologize." Guiche turned away from Louise, signifying the end to their discussion but Louise kept glaring.

Zero watched their exchange in amusement. But since they have reached a dead end to their discussion, he decided it was time to end this 'standoff'. "Oh, Louise," the reploid said in an amusing tone, getting the girl's attention. She turned around and Guiche watched from the corner of his eyes. He continued when she looked at him, "Are you worry over my well being? Why, that was so cute of you. However, spectator, like yourself, should really stay out of harms way and stood over there." His head tilted to his side, indicating where she should be: in and around the crowd of students.

Before Louise could react to his words, Zero flexed his arms. In an instant, the golem's arms that wrapped around his chest in a death grip were forced apart and the two chains around his body snapped like some wet toilet papers. There was a moment of silence as everyone watched in shock. The reploid ignored their reactions, stuck one blade into the ground, and use his freed hand to grab hold onto the golem on his back. He flung that metal puppet onto the ground and following it up with a merciless stomp to its head. The force of his stomp was so great that the golem's head sunk half a foot into the ground and crushed flat. Finally, he picked up his blade and stood casually as if nothing happen.

The way Zero broke the chain and took down that golem looked so easy; it was as if he was just removing a shirt he's wearing. Such sudden display of strength had everyone mesmerized. Among those who were shocked, Louise and the boy's reaction were perhaps the most entertaining. Both of them had their eyes widen in shock when he broke free of the golem's binding. Then, their jaws started to drop as he grab and threw that golem onto the ground. Finally, their jaws dropped wide open as far as they can go and gawked in disbelieve at the gaping hole left behind in the wake of his merciless stomp.

It took Louise full five seconds to recover from her shock. Once she did, she stole a quick glance at her familiar and hurried away. Guiche, however, remained in shock and looked a bit pale. Then again, who could blame him...

As amusing as it was to see the boy frozen in shock, he thought it was best to move on so he spoke, "What? Heh, you didn't really think that could hold me down did you?" As typical of the legendary reploid, when he needed to grab the attention of his opponents, he mocks them. His attitude and sharp tongue never fail to infuriate them and Guiche was no exception. Once Guiche glared at him, Zero spoke, "This is your final warning, boy. Kneel or accept the consequences." To add even more insult, he was smiling the entirely time and his tone was casual as if this whole ordeal was just a joke to him.

Because of Zero's cool persona, many students started changing their opinion of him. At around the same time, Siesta, who had been watching the entire duel in silence, finally gathered her courage and start clapping her hands in a show of support for her friend. Soon, Kirche and a few students join in and began cheering for him as well. And once that start, more followed. As the cheering grew louder, Guiche began to feel the heat. Not only was he out of idea at how to defeat the familiar, he was now being forsaken by his fellow classmates. This was just too much of a blow to his pride. In a flash of blind rage, he sent the remaining five golems charging toward his hate foe.

In return, Zero tuned his combat readiness up slightly. Then he stood and watched as the golems approach. He doesn't really need to use such overwhelming force, but he wanted to make a statement. Plus he was known to be merciless to his enemies anyway. If they stood before him, he will terminate them with no hesitation.

The five golems surrounding the hunter were evenly spaced. They rushed toward him together as fast as they could, which was about what an average human could do. Their shields were out in front in an attempt to box him in and smash him from all sides. Their swords were by their sides ready to slash him to bits. All in all, the boy's intention to cause him harm was clear. The teen was serious. There was just one little problem: the golems were simply too slow. Even at full running speed, their movements looked to the hunter as if they were babies learning how to crawl for the first time. Really, he could walk faster than they could run. Such was the amusing thought that came to his mind as he began to smirk. Right around that time, the 'carcass' of that modified golem's arms shot up and grab onto his leg in a desperate attempt to slow him down. He spared a glance down at his leg and raised an eyebrow at what he saw but didn't react to it. He simply looked back to the boy and smiled.

Guiche and the students watched the golems charged toward Zero but the familiar did nothing aside from putting on an amusing smile. Even when the remains of that modified golem grabbed onto his leg, he did nothing. He did not remove the arms holding onto him or get into a defense stance like most had predicted. He made no move to move away from the spot so that he could better evade the golems and breakup any formation they are forming like he had done previously. He simply stood, watched, and smirked as the golems close in on him. Everyone was wondering what in the world was he thinking. In their mind, they believed that once the golems were close enough, he would be defenseless. There's simply no way he could maneuver out of harms way. He was doing so well and now he's throwing it all away. Louise was thinking along the same line and was beginning to panic again.

As the golems moving in ever closer and everyone's attention was focused on the familiar, Zero stood, unfazed. Finally, there was a loud sound of clash of metals. The golems had finally came together and crashed into their intended path.

Seeing the event unfolded before his eyes, Guiche snapped out of his blind rage; he felt euphoric. He felt like a miracle had bestowed upon him. Just a few seconds ago, he was pushed to the edge of a humiliated defeat; now, he could declare his victory over that foul familiar and save his pride. And of course he wasted no time to gloat.

While everyone was looking at where the golems stood and Louise was kneeling down on the ground in despair, Guiche felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hmm, I think our little duel here is over. Don't you agree, boy?" The owner of the hand spoke nonchalantly, and Guiche suddenly felt a great chill running up his spine. He gulped and took a quick glance behind. The person he found standing behind him cause all blood to drain away from his face. There stood the familiar, appearing healthy and all, grinning at him. He quickly turned his gaze back to his golems. They were standing still. But then, a sudden gust of wind pass by and the golems began to fall apart. In the middle where the familiar was suppose to be, there were two worn out blades pinning the two hands of his modified golem to the ground on either sides, standing in the shape of an 'X'.

Louise, who was kneeling on the ground and on the verge of tears, shot up from her position after hearing her familiar's voice. She looked at the empty space where her familiar was suppose to be. There was nothing. She wipes her eyes clean and began scanning the area, looking for her familiar. She found him standing behind Guiche, bolstering an arrogant smirk. Her heart soared. She didn't know what happen, but it didn't matter. All that mattered to her was her familiar no longer in mortal danger.

While Louise was feeling ecstatic, Guiche was feeling the opposite. Still, he turned around swiftly, shaking off Zero's hand on his shoulder, and pointed his wand at him in a desperate attempt to cast a spell, any spell. Zero, however, was faster. The reploid's hand shot forward and grab hold onto Guiche's wand. The reploid easily tugged the wand out of the boy's hand and casually toss it over his shoulder. "I don't think so, brat," the hunter spoke amusingly.

Realizing he had no other way to turn this around, Guiche turned tail and attempted to escape. He didn't even make two steps before he was caught. Before he realizes what happen, he was bent over the familiar's knee and pinned there. He struggled to get free but was proved useless. "Ready for your punishment, brat?" The teen heard. Before he could say anything, he felt a burning sensation on his buttock. He heard the familiar say something afterward, but he wasn't sure what it was as his mind wasn't focused on it. Instead, he was worried over the horrific implication of what was happening to him or what the familiar was doing to him. As he scanned around, his worst fear was confirmed. People were laughing. More specific, they were laughing at him. He had hit rock bottom. The familiar, a commoner, had spanked him in public like a naughty little child. Oh, the humiliation...

-z-z-

High above in one of the tower, Professor Colbert and Headmaster Osmond watched amusingly as the familiar spanked one of their student. They had watched the entire duel and were amazed at the familiar's fighting ability. However, they were also a bit concern. Colbert was first to voice his opinion. "That was amazing. His fighting ability was simply remarkable. However, I still don't understand how he was able to escape the golems. Did he use a teleportation spell? I thought such spell was only a myth."

"O', ho ho. That was not the teleportation spell," said Osmond as he shook his head and touch his beard. Colbert looked at the headmaster quizzically but waited for him to clarify. The old man sober up and explained, "That was the effect of a 'haste' spell."

"B-but that's impossible! No one can use a 'haste' spell like that!"

"Yes, he is special indeed," Osmond commended. "Professor Colbert, I like you to keep a closer eye on him from now on," ordered the headmaster.

"Yes, Headmaster Osmond, but do you think we should notify the royal court of him?"

"Absolutely not! This may involves the lost fragment of the Pentagon. I do not wish such information leaking out."

"Y-yes sir," Colbert stuttered but obeyed, finally making the connections and recognizing the importance of such implication.

"Hmm, perhaps it's about time I go meet him..." Osmond murmured to himself as he walked past Colbert.

-z-z-

SPANK

"That was for two timing on your girlfriends, got caught, and blame me."

SPANK

"That was for overestimating yourself. If this was a real fight, you would be dead before you knew what happen."

SPANK

"That was for underestimating your opponent. Appearance can be deceiving. Just because I am a '_commoner_', that doesn't mean you should underestimate me. And finally..." Zero stopped mid sentence and gave the crowd of students an icy glare. Those that had met his gaze stopped laughing immediately and gulped. A number of them had even took a step back involuntarily. His intense gaze finally settled on Louise, who was in full celebration mode. Instantly, she began shying away. Then his expression softens and he smiled. However, his smile did not reach his eyes. It wasn't meant to. In fact, it was a smile devoid of kindness or compassion. Once he was sure he got her undivided attention, he continued, "You talked a lot about respects. Well, let me teach you something about that, brat: Respect ought not to be given for who you are but what you have done. In other words: if you want my respect, you need to earn it first." The creepy smile remained, and it was directed at Louise the whole time he was speaking. Then...

SPANK

Instinctively, Louise jumped and moved her hands to cover her behind as if she was the one being hit. And apparently, she wasn't the only one. Many other students who had eye contact with the familiar did the same. They got the message. However, a few did not. One such not-so-bright-individual kept laughing loudly at Guiche's misery and mocked, "Hahaha, Guiche, I can't believe you lost to a commoner. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You must be getting rusty. Maybe you need more practice and less dating. I mean how could you possibly lose to a commoner? Hahaha."

"Hmm, you sounded awfully confident in your ability; like you wanted a challenge or a duel with me," said the reploid as he laid Guiche down on the ground and walking toward that laughing idiot. Apparently, students surrounding the individual recognized his intent and back away immediately, leaving the guy sticking out like a sore thumb. "Well, I am here and ready. Want to try your luck, boy? Maybe you might get lucky." Zero smiled rather cruelly as he walked toward the boy, scaring the crap out of him.

Zero stood a few feet away from the boy and stared menacingly into his eyes. "BOO!" the hunter exclaimed suddenly. The already shaken boy ran away screaming, "Mommy," and everyone laughed. With that, Zero establishes some new found respects among the students, especially the girls. The boys were more or less fifty/fifty with him. Despite the respects he's getting, no one dare go near him. There's just something dangerous about him.

Kirche was mesmerized by Zero's charisma, his abilities, his look. She was beginning to imagine things. Realizing she won't get anywhere with the familiar if she doesn't make her move, she snapped out of her delusions. Looking around, she sense her classmates were a little weary of him and kept a distance. This was her golden opportunity. The seductress cleared her throat and walked toward her target confidently. But then, a black and white flash ran past her.

"You did it, Zero-san!" Siesta exclaimed excitedly, running up to the familiar.

"Ah, Siesta. I hope my performance did not disappoint." Zero smiled politely at her. Perhaps it was due to Siesta's icebreaking and showing everyone he is not as dangerous as they thought, or perhaps it was due to Zero's smiling warmly and lessening the tension around him. Whatever the case may be, the seemingly untouchable aura surrounding the hunter just a moment ago vanished, and the students no longer fear him. The effect was instantaneous, and cheers poured in.

"How did you do that?"

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Who was your master?"

"Are you really a commoner?"

"You have some beautiful hair..." commended a male student, his gaze was sparkling. Such remark caused a number of girls to start giggling and their eyes to sparkle. The rest of the boys, however, stopped and gave their peer a creep out stare. "What? He does have beautiful hair!" defended the creepy student.

The male portion of mob moved in and surrounded the familiar while trying hard to ignore the creepy remark by one of their own. The female portion of mob was just trying to physically get closer and touch him. Cheers, laughter, and questions kept pouring in as they move with the familiar. His response was mostly a nod here or a smile there, but the crowd was excited regardless.

Louise was having a proud moment. No one can call her or her familiar useless anymore. As she looked around the scenery, she can't help but notice the beautiful day. The chirping of the birds sounded like music to her ears. The air smells clean and refreshing. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter than normal. _'Ah, I have been reborn,'_ she thought, feeling rapture. But then the sound of her fellow classmates started fading and she snapped out of her bliss.

The pink hair girl looked around. Guiche was still lying on the ground. Kirche was standing a few meters away deep in thought, and her familiar was no where to be seen. She looked farther away and saw the tail of the mob. She chased after them. "Hey, wait, that's my familiar! W-where are you going?!"

"Delicious..." Kirche whispered, licking her lips...

* * *

It was late evening and Louise had just arrived back to her room. Once again, her familiar was no where in sight, and she was left to wonder where he went. Nonetheless, she decided to get change for the night and opened her drawer. She took a look inside and frowned. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she swears she had more clothes than what she saw. In any case, she happily changed into her nightgown without giving it much thought.

Once again, Louise sat alone in her room in front of her mirror and started combing her hair out of habit. This time, however, she had a huge smile on her face. Her mind had drifted back to this noon when her familiar easily defeated Guiche and embarrassed him in front of the crowd. As she thinks back to that scene, she started to giggle. Guiche got what he deserved but she was simply elated. The familiar that she thought was completely useless turned out to be quite competent. She still have no idea how he did what he did, and she have nearly no control over him, but that can wait. Right now, all she wanted to do was to celebrate her success. Yes, her success! While it was technically his success and he had done all the work, but whatever he possess belongs to her so it was her success!

She could barely contain her excitement, and excited as she was, the girl looked all over the place, eyes sparkling. Her gaze landed at the calendar on her desk. She smiled, picked up the calendar and then flung it over her shoulder, no longer caring nor worried. Searching for something or anything to quell her excitement, she spotted bottles of perfume on her desk. Smiling, she took out one bottle and began applying it onto herself while doing a little dance. Perhaps she was a little too excited, because, somehow, she lost her grip and the bottle fell onto the floor and rolled next to her bed. She frowned a little but was all smiley again in less than a second. This was the best day of her life, and she decided that there was nothing in the world that could get her down.

As she happily skipped over to pick up her perfume bottle, a mosquito flied by her field of vision and distracted her. Her foot landed a little further than plan, and she kicked the bottle underneath her bed. She swatted the annoying insect away before kneeling down to get her favorite bottle of perfume. She looked underneath her bed and spotted something. The girl took out that 'something' and took a closer look. Just as the girl was thinking that there was nothing in the world that could dampens her mood a minute ago, life had dealt her yet another lemon and her joyful smile was rapidly turning into an angry frown. And boy, is she pissed...

...

...

...

It was late in the evening and Zero had once again came back from a trip to the library. He opened the door to Louise's room and got inside. Immediately after getting inside, he regretted his decision of coming back at all.

Inside the room, Louise was sitting beside a round table with her legs crossed. Her arms were folded across her chest with her right hand clenching onto a 'thin black stick' and tapping on her left shoulder. She was wearing her thin light-pink pajama and looked very calm. However, he knew that this calmness was actually the calm before a storm, because on the table was the 'evidence' of his mishap - a tangled ball of clothes on one side and a ripped nightgown in full displayed right on the center. Yes, his 'sin' from the day before, in which he hid under her bed and totally forgotten, had came back to haunt him. Judgment was now upon him and her anger could blow up any second...

"Zero," she began with a low, calm voice.

"Eh heh, Louise," Zero held both his hands up in front of him in a gesture of urging her to stay calm as he slowly approached. He stopped a few feet before her as his eyes scanned the room. Sets after sets of clothes were laid neatly across her bed, some being incomplete sets, and he knew he was doomed.

"Where were the rest of my clothes that I asked you to wash?" she asked. To her credit, her voice had stayed calm and devoid of emotion, but her eyes were beginning to twitch. It's definitely not a good sign and he knew it.

"Now Louise, there's no need to get upset over a few pieces of-"

"Where. Were. My. Clothes, Zero!" she slam her left hand on the table.

The reploid winced. He figured that there was no stopping her now and mentally readied himself for whatever that was to come. He got on his knees and raised both hands in a gesture of surrendering. Then he relaxes himself and answered her honestly with a positive smile, "Yes, so you caught me. I destroyed them when I try washing them." The sun-shine positive tone he used backfired, because it just came across as being mockingly callous and insincere, which added more fuel to the fire.

"What! How could you be so stupid?! How could you failed to do the most simplest task?!" She stood up sharply. The only reason her anger had not yet completely exploded was the fact he was kneeling before her. She knew he is strong and having such a powerful being kneeling before her was somehow very gratifying.

"Now, in my defense, I was not built for such task and I did warn you before," he said, still kneeling with his hands up and trying to back away.

"Are you trying to put blames on me?!" she narrowed her eyes at him and he tries to look away. Never have she see him like this and it pleased her greatly. It gave her a sense of being in control: something she often didn't get from him. Now, there was still his sharp tongue that pissed her off immensely. She wondered if she could change that with this incident. Amazingly, she found herself less angry than she thought.

Sensing Louise wasn't really that angry, Zero tried to talk his way out of trouble. "No, no, but let's just say your clothes were being too flimsy. All I did was applying some force and they fell apart. You should talk to the people who supply you with clothes and ask them to use better materials instead of these cheap fabrics, and-"

"Ch-cheap fabrics?! They were high quality silk!" She cut him off.

"That fell apart at the slightest touch," muttered the reploid.

"What did you say?!" she glared at him like a hawk, daring him to say anything.

"Nothing," he answered wisely.

Hearing what her familiar had to say about the incident had made Louise mad all over again. Unfortunately, Zero just seemed to have certain ways with his words that was prone to make others mad. "Do you have any idea how much they cost?!" Louise asked as her furry slowly climbed to new a height.

"Calm down Louise. It's not that big of a deal. I mean, it's just a few pieces of clothes. You got more. There's really no need to get upset over this," said Zero, trying to downplay the situation and his mistake. It didn't work as Louise just got angrier, instead. In fact, her anger had only increase as she listened to him. He soon realized his error and stop talking. He waited a bit and observed Louise. Her face was all red, and he knew she was about to go nuclear, so he sighed in defeat and threw in a deal in hopes of calming her down, "Fine, I shall make it up to you. How about I won't complain the next time-"

"Complain? Complain?! I am the one who wanted to complain! You destroyed all my clothes!" She pointed her wand at him accusingly.

He leaned his body far back but answered her nonetheless. What's more, he managed to keep his smile and positive tone while correcting her. "Not all, only a few. So, Louise-"

"Only a few? Only a few?! Yo-you stupid, STUPID IDIOT!" she screamed as she stomped and flapped her arms in anger. Unfortunately, his smile just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Okay, okay Louise. How about this: the next time you ask me to wash your clothes, I-"

"Wash my clothes? Wash my clothes?! I am not letting you-" she stuttered a bit, struggling to find the right word or phrase as she walked back and forth. A few seconds later, she stopped and pointed her 'stick' at him accusingly and screamed, "-you Laundry Assassin anywhere near my clothes!"

"Laun-laundry Assassin? Now that got to be the most ridiculous name I ever heard," the hunter frowned.

"Shut up! From now on, you will be known as Zero the Laundry Assassin!" Seeing him frown for the first time since this started, she knew she was going in the right direction. Once again, she regained some control of herself. Her goal was to make him feel bad and remorseful which he's clearly not. Then she can manipulate and hopefully control him. A frown was a good way to start. Now she needed to keep going, keep pushing his-

"Now, Louise, that was uncalled for. You should not call people names. It's not nice and un-lady like."

"Arrrgghh! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" And with that, she lost it again. She went on and scolded him. She suddenly felt that it was a shame that Guiche wasn't able to teach this jerk a lesson and knock some sense into him.

Louise continued to scream at her familiar for another couple of hours and well into the night, using phrases like: 'stupid idiot', 'incompetent fool', and especially 'Laundry Assassin' over and over. And thus after this night, 'Laundry Assassin' was added to his long list of nicknames...

-z-z-

High on the roof of one of the tower, a blue hair girl close her book and got onto a dragon, preparing to leave. "He didn't come tonight," she whispered to herself emotionlessly and flied away.

Chapter End

* * *

AN: Finally, end of episode 2. A long chapter deserved a long ranting…

First up - Challenge: Name as many of Zero's nick names as you can think of. LOL

Anyway, took me half a year on and off to finish. As the title suggested, 3 main things needed to be accomplish here. In order to do so, I had to reverse engineer many scenes.

The idea of 'His Hair' came from Archaon's 'Twin Souls Searching' and a review I saw in 'Blade of Void' talking about his hair. I thought it would be fun so I added it in.

In 'His Hair', I needed to mess with Louise's hair at night time. Only then can she mess with his. For that to happen however, I had to engineer many sets of scenarios: An explosion at night without Zero and then rejoin him later etc. Thus, a numbers of new scenes and reasoning was made all so that I could screw Louise. See how evil I am. Poor Kirche and her familiar were just at the wrong place at the wrong time…

Since Zero is not Saito, Guiche needed to do the provoking first in order to start the fight (And if you haven't notice, I have been trying to do that for a while without success). The template for this was from 'I, X your Familiar' but I ended up tearing it apart so much that it's almost an original now. The new reference was more close to the anime instead.

Guiche's fight was purposely dragged out. If not, he would give up really quick and the title won't happen. As for why it was dragged from characters' point of views, it was because both of them were after one thing: Pride. Killing their opponent was never their intention. It never was, not even in Saito's case. What they're after was the admittance of defeat by the other.

The fight itself was another reverse engineering. The final battle configuration (you know: being surrounded and disappear at the last second) was all I had in mind at first because it's cool. But it's hard to have when your protagonist is the 'God of Destruction'… Louise's actions and emotions were not planned but were forced to add in because she's not unemotional. When I re-watch the episode, I realize Guiche's golems use spears. Well, Zero is a weapon master so I let him play with it a bit. Ultimately, swords would be use so yeah.

"Mommy" was originally Guiche's role but I pity him at the last minute so a nameless OC suffered instead. "BOO" was from 'Dimension Travel'. 'Imaginary Butterflies' came from Direct TV commercial. Catching falling blade without looking came from 'Twin Souls Searching' and later 'I, X your Familiar' – both have X doing the catching. Fight scenes modeled after Archaon's works (not as good as his). Originally, I thought fight scenes were the easiest to write compared with the rest but this chapter may proved me wrong…

Before you tell me that I forgot the runes, let me make this clear: The runes did not activate, period. I purposely save it for later. Why? To make fun of others of course. What else?

If you think the last part seem to be cut in half from an earlier part, you are right. The original title was: 'His Hairs, My Clothes, And The Spankings - blablabla'. But when I wrote 'Clothes' without 'Spanking' first, I encounter a huge problem. In order to calm Louise down, Zero will have to sacrifice some of his freedom. That is unacceptable to me so the order was changed. What a waste! The title would have been so much better with 'Clothes' before Spanking' but I'd choose plot over title any day so… And to clear things up: the goal for Zero during 'My Clothes' was to make sure Louise doesn't blow up anything. It's just that I didn't know how to word it in without making the whole thing awkward or perhaps I am just too lazy…

"Mission, start" was a parody to anyone who claims Zero loved that phrase. Episode 2 started off with the definition of 'Louise the Zero'. Saito's way of discovery in the anime was not acceptable because Zero is more mature. So I rearranged a demonstration. This way, Zero will learn the meaning the same way we did. For that, I went back and changed the ID of the teacher in chapter 4 (you can still see part of her name there). Zero's way of cheering her up in the flashback was another awkward moment but I don't know how to make it better. Conversation is not my strong area...

In a clash between Louise and Zero, Louise will lose 9 out of 10 times. Wins that she does manage to get are probably going to be trivial. Poor Louise but it can't be help. If she had so much problem with Saito, anyone she choose is going to be a headache. At least Zero could be mature enough to accept her… Hmm, I think I found a scene where Louise could win big… Zero is so screw…MUAWHAHAHAHAHA…

Siesta is a troubling. Her assertive personality jumped out a little too early and I fear she may be a little OOC, but I needed it to happen. Let's hope it doesn't go beyond that.

And finally, I think you all realized by now that Zero is ridiculously strong in this fic. Well duh, what else do you expect? I mean just look at the summary dude. LOL In the case where you think I am going to level the playing field by raising others power, well I am telling you right now that it is not happening. Zero _is_ god like, period. Really, most crossover heroes would be god like in FoZ anyways. And yes, I know having god like character(s) as the protagonist tends to ruin stories but I am not nerfing his ability down. In fact I might increase it further. There is logic to such madness people. Want to take a guess? LOL But of course I know my limit as a writer and would probably screw up at some point. In fact, Zero is already acting OOC (too talkative, too mischief; he even blame others for his own fault with the whole 'cheap fabric' comment – it's just I don't know how to work the phrase into that part of the dialogue). But it was all for a good laugh and nothing really happened because of his minor misbehaviors so I hope I could get away with it. LOL Still Zero's core character (canonly speaking) is close to a 'Gary Stu' so it will be quite a challenge to balance him out… Insightful reviews or idea(s) will be great, especially if your idea(s) was on how to screw Zero. LOL It may help make him more down to earth and prevent me from going astray or going too far with him. Ultimately, Zero as the familiar should be about humor and not other stuffs…

Replies to reviewers:

ManaZero: Why, thank you. As for clothes… well, they tend to come and go... you'll see what I mean next chapter…LOL Just so you know, the tech upgrades idea is not entirely dead in this fic and thank you for bring that up in the first place. There is one incident that I could think of in which Zero might help. If Colbert's device is a danger to himself or others, then Zero could step in – either to destroy the device or put in safety breaks. However, it is a hassle to write that scene but it could be a chance to screw Colbert so who knows…

pltrgst: No, no I am not as arrogant to claim what I write is golden. In fact, I am bound to make mistakes, and so it's nice to know someone is out there pointing things out so that I don't get full of myself. Plus I often go back and update past chapters when I upload a new one, usually adding a few more words or fixing some other minor stuffs, so no big deal.

Andre 'Vortex' Prower: Well, Guiche's exciting battle was more of a 'Guiche's humiliated defeat'. Don't you agree? LOL Next chapter will have a bit of fighting too. Guess who the next um, victim(s) will be…LOL

Han-Ko: …I liked that too…LOL Girls like her should be treated as such.

xbox432: Hilarious indeed. The answer is yes and it will happen at the worst timing at which Siesta will want to, um…strangle him. 0_o … LOL

KH-Hardcorefan4483: Again, very sorry, hence why I don't gave out reviews that much. In fact, when it comes to login review, you are my first. Well, a 'first victim' now I guess. LOL But then there's no need to feel bad. I mean I am just an amateur writer and not really an aspired one either so what do I know. Plus we write these things for free anyway so just laugh it off when some jerks (me included) say something bad…or gave them hell. Like you said earlier: 'our fic our rules'. LOL As for X and Zero, they do have their own uniqueness. I agree. It's just that Capcom did not do a good job in developing X as they did Zero I think. 'I, X your Familiar', being one of the better FoZ crossover, probably done a better job developing him. But what really matter was X (canon) does not fit this story I am writing. There is no need to replay a game just to get some info. It's what Youtube is for. As for Axl, I don't' think I am up for the job. His unique appearance and/or loud mouth show off nature is very likely to change the initial chemistry of FoZ if no care were taken. Then it will run into uncharted territory, running high risks of OOC-ness. Too much care and Axl might become OOC instead… As I just said, I am an amateur writer only. I don't know how to handle that. However, if you are for 'easier' upbeat personalities, look profile.

Anyway that is about it for now so see you next time…


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Zero's nicknames – Red Demon from Madness in Red (most commonly used, sometimes with Devil instead of Demon); Reploid Predator from Madness in Red (No one use this despite being awesome); Legendary Maverick Hunter (standard, not sure if it even count as a nickname); Ancient Almighty/Bloodthirsty God of Destruction from Z3. That's about all the names I have heard of.

* * *

Chapter 6: Stalkers, Stalkers Everywhere...

Colbert peeked around the corner and observed his familiar of interest. The familiar dressed in some butler clothing followed his master around, looking absolutely relaxed. Occasionally, his student would frown at the familiar and voiced her displeasure of his behavior. The familiar, however, always managed to laugh it off and calm her down. Looking at their relationship, Colbert couldn't help but felt like he was watching a very patient adult schooling a rather spoiled child on proper behaviors through leading by examples or other...'_subtle_' means. In other words, he's taming her. While Colbert does find Zero to be a good role model, the irony here, of course, was that he '_is_' Miss Vallière's familiar, and so she '_should be_' the one doing the teaching, training, or taming and not the other way around...

Colbert shook his head and sighed. He had been following the familiar for some times now, and the young man had done absolutely nothing out of ordinary during those times. Admittedly, following him around without being discover had not been easy especially when he's not with his master. There were a number of times when he feared he had been discovered, but then the familiar never displayed any signs that he noticed he was being followed. That eased his concerns a little.

Regardless, the familiar normally just followed his master around, trying to blend in and avoid conflicts. He's doing quite well so far, treating everyone with courtesy and equality. The man never gloat his victory over Guiche; and by not doing so, he managed to not draw too much attentions from other students. The familiar is wise and humble as he is powerful. In fact, the more he observed, the more admirable the familiar seemed. It's so rare to find a person with such amazing qualities; the professor couldn't help but wonders from where the familiar came from. _'And he's so young...'_

The Professor shook his head once more to clear his thought and peeked at the familiar and his student. To his dismay, they were gone. Colbert walked hastily to where they had been and looked around, trying to find them. They were nowhere in sight. The Professor cursed himself for getting distracted and lost sight of them. His mind soon wandered back a couple of days ago...

-Flashback Start-

_Colbert walked into Headmaster Osmond's office and saw the old mage packing. "Sir Osmond? Um, what are you doing?"_

_The old headmaster looked up and said, "Oh hey Colby. As you can see; I am packing." The old mage kept on packing his luggage, never once stopping._

_The mid age mage can see the old headmaster was doing just that. Along with clothes and other daily necessities, there was also a stack of paper. On the very top of that stack was a portrait of what seems to be Miss Longueville. "Um, Sir?" said Colbert as he raised his eyebrow at the old headmaster._

_The old headmaster popped his head up and gave Colbert a glance after he finished packing. The old mage sighed. "I am going to visit an old acquaintance of mine, doing some research..." he answered._

_Colbert looked doubtful but didn't press the issue. "I came with a report on Miss Vallière's familiar. He had grown quite popular after the duel, especially among the female students."_

"_O' ho ho, it must be nice to so young," joked the headmaster as he grabbed his staff. He cast a spell and his luggage floated beside him. The old mage promptly walked toward the door while Colbert followed._

"_That is not the issue. I feared he may have gotten too popular. Some students might get envious of the attention he gets and cause troubles."_

_The older mage turned and smiled at Colbert. "Ah, that is why I entrusted you to look after those two while I am gone, Professor Colbert," said the headmaster. And with that he left, leaving Colbert behind._

'_How am I going to do that?' Colbert sighed. He was left looking at the back of the headmaster. The task of looking after the legendary familiar, Gandalfr, was now sitting squarely on his shoulder. That means it's up to him to keep peace between the students and a legend; and after seeing the legend in action, the fire mage was not feeling very confident in his ability to keep peace should things go wrong..._

-Flashback End-

"Professor Colbert?" said a female voice.

Hmm, that's odd. Where did that female voice come from? He certainly does not remember it in his flashback.

"Professor Colbert!"

Colbert turned around and found Mrs. Chevreuse frowning at him. "Oh um, hello, Professor Chevreuse."

"Why are you standing here, Professor Colbert? We must hurry. We have an important staff meeting coming up."

"Ahh, right..." Reluctantly, Colbert followed his colleague to their 'very important' staff meeting.

* * *

Zero sighed in relief. He had finally gotten rid of Colbert's ridiculous surveillance, for now anyway. The past few days had been really stressful, not that he hadn't saw it coming. In general, he had an idea of what was going to happen when he defeated that naive brat, especially with the way he did it. He just hadn't predicted it to be this bad.

First came an old guy snooping around. Alone, it's not much of a problem as he's confident he could go around him undetected anytime he wishes. But then, fan girls started popping up. Admittedly, there weren't that many of them and they were generally easy to deal with. However, with fan girls come jealous boyfriends, and one popular girl can spawn quite a number of them. These testosterone-charged 'simpletons' are one big headache. Even though few actually went through the trouble of following him around, there're many of them spreading all throughout the academy, all looking for 'troubles'. He just earned some respect among the local population so there's no real reason for him to lose it by acting weak. On the other hand, fighting them would just draw more attention, which he didn't want, especially with the old man lurking around waiting and watching. In the end, it took some 'creative' skills to avoid conflicts with them, and hiding behind Louise's 'ferocious' reputation turned out to be quite effective as well. Still, the attentions he gets from them were quite 'unnerving'. He guessed it'll only be a matter of time before they started something '_THEY_' are going to regret. Combining the three, he felt like he just can't go anywhere without his privacy being compromised; stressful indeed...

"So, what was it that you wanted to show me?" Louise asked, breaking his thought. She's out in the middle of a grassy field on academy ground frowning at her familiar as usual.

"Huh? Oh, uh," said Zero, looking around as he thought of a response. Obviously, he had not thought of an answer as he was just too desperate to get out of Colbert's surveillance. While he was whacking his processor for something, Louise was getting more and more impatient. In desperation, he pointed at a fairly large rock sitting in the middle of the garden and shouted, "Look at that rock! Isn't it beautiful?!" He knew he sounded incredibly stupid, but it's better than nothing; or at least he thought so.

"You drag me out here to look at a rock?!" Louise stared at him in disbelieve; the 'Are you insane?' part of the question was written all over her face.

"Erm, it had a very natural beauty to it. Don't you think?" said Zero, trying to present his case. Since he had no backup plan, all he could do was giving her a silly smile and hope for the best.

Louise stared at him as if he had suddenly grown another head. When he just smiled at her, she rolled her eyes and shook her head before responding, "You know what? Forget it. I don't want to know."

Zero breath a sigh in relief. He had finally gotten free of stalkers. He really didn't want to draw any attention and be stuck with a whole bunch of them all over again just because she happens to loose her temper...

"How is your '_secret training_' for the upcoming familiar exhibition coming along?" ask the pink hair girl when she noticed he seems to be spacing off. She made sure she emphasized it being '_his_' secret training because he had yet to tell her what it was. She was glaring straight into his eyes. The only reason why she hadn't made a big fuss about it was because she had learned that it wouldn't work. No amount of screaming or threatening of any kind would do. She had tried and learned the hard way with the whole 'laundry incident' a couple nights ago. In fact, her throat was still a little sore from then, a reminder of a fruitless attempt. When he decided to keep secrets, she learned, it's simply impossible to get anything out of him. Or the effort required to do so was just not worth it. At this point, she was a little more than irritated with him. It was maddening that her own familiar would keep secrets from her...

"Aha ha ha," said the reploid, trying to whack his mind to come up with something while studying her expressions. When her glares became more menacing by the seconds, the reploid spoke, "Er, speaking of training, I think I should get going." And with that, Zero left for a hasty retreat.

"W-wait!" said Louise, but it was too late. Zero was gone, leaving her agitated.

-z-z-

Zero dashed off to a secluded location. Finally, freedom was at hand. Louise was probably going to be pissed that he left her so suddenly, but he reasoned that it was probably for the better that he let her cool off on her own...

* * *

It was night time when Zero came back to the dorm building. He had been wandering around for the better part of the day, relaxing under the sun, enjoying his freedom. It help him relief stress built up over the past few days. Being stalked was not fun...

As the reploid walked lightheartedly toward Louise's floor, he encountered a giant red lizard. He recognized it was Kirche's familiar, salamander, and it was lying right in the middle of the hallway, blocking his way. The hunter cautiously took a step forward, and the great beast got up and stared at him. They locked eyes with each other for a few seconds before Zero raised his foot and prepared to take another step forward. The fire lizard gave him a low growl then. Slowly, Zero lowered his foot and observed. The red lizard turned around and slowly waved its fiery tail at him. It glances backward at him as if telling him to follow. "You wanted me to follow you?" asked the hunter, just to be sure. The salamander purred in response, and so he followed along.

It took them a minute or two to get to their destination. The salamander pawed at the door and it opened. It stepped to the side and gestured him to go inside. Zero sighed. He knew at some point he would have to face 'her'. The past few days of hiding behind Louise's back and actively avoiding 'her' cannot last forever, so he decided to went along and get this over with. He got a general idea of what's in store for him and knew it would not be easy, but nonetheless, he went in...

Once Zero step foot inside the room, he began looking for his 'hostess'. The salamander followed close behind. The door closed soon afterward and the fire lizard found a nice little corner and lied down, resting.

The room, inside, smelled of a sweet fragrance, probably a mixture of different perfumes. It was also fairly dark despite being lightened up by a few candles. They were located at odd places and were just too small to light up the room. But then, being a reploid made for combat, he sees perfectly fine. Even if conditions worsen, it wouldn't be much of a problem for him. The hunter went further inside and found his female admirer lying on her bed in underwear.

"Welcome to my sweet room, Zero," boasted Kirche sweetly. Dressed in sexy light purple lingerie that highlights her impressive figure, the seductress slowly rise from her bed and stood confidently in front of her target with open arms. Moonlight shone past the window in the back gave the dark skin beauty a boost to her overall gorgeousness.

'_Oh boy,'_ thought Zero, resisting the urge to slap his hand over his face and roll his eyes. He had seen a number of fan girls both back home and here. None of them was as extreme as this, or none that he was aware of anyway. Perhaps some of them back in his 'glory days' might, but who knows...

The light was dim, but Kirche could make out the general figure before her. She eyed him up and down. The man stood before her was fairly tall and very handsome, dressed in a black tuxedo with a matching bowtie. His incredibly long blond hair was neatly tied into a pony tail that fall all the way down to his ankles. Two magnificent sapphire orbs stared straight at her with a soul piercing gaze that ignites all her passion within. The fiery seductress was both mesmerized and stunned by his powerful gaze. It was as if he could see every aspect of her, that she could hide nothing from him. She felt like standing naked before him. Such powerful gaze, there's only one word to describe: 'Exquisite'. Her imagination was running wild.

Zero studied the red hair beauty for a few seconds and decided he didn't like the way she's staring at him. She was sizing him up and down, looking like a starved lioness ready to pounce on a piece of juicy steak; and the longer she looked at him, the hungrier she seemed. _'Okay, maybe if I act stupid, she would lose interest,'_ the reploid thought. He decided it was better to act before the girl comes back to her sense. First thing first, he broke eye contact as she seems to be 'encouraged' by it. Then he began, "Um, Miss Zerbst-"

"Call me Kirche," she purred and stalked toward him.

"Right... Kirche," he muttered as his eyes glanced around the room while maintaining a precise lock on her through his other sensors. "Wow!" Zero moved to the side seemingly absentmindedly but with enough calculated precision so that Kirche's attempt to wrap herself around him was met with nothing but air, missed by an inch. "What a nice room you have!" he exclaimed, trying to get that haze off her eyes so that he may have a proper conversation. Even if he was to continue this 'game', he needed her to be more than just some lust zombie to do so. Otherwise, it just won't be much of a game.

When Kirche missed the hug, the haze in mind was lifted but her determination remained. She remembered that he had never lost his cool around her and realized he was not her usual prey. She needed to up her game if she was to get what she wanted, and so she changed tactics. Turning her back to him and with a very sad tone, she spoke, "You must think of me as a lowly, despicable woman."

'_Okay, now what's she trying to pull?'_ he thought as he stared at her back, trying to figure out her game. "Um, Kirche?" he said, taking a step forward.

Without warning, Kirche turned around and throw herself at the handsome blond. Her initial goal was to get them both on the floor. When that failed, she buried her face in between his neck and shoulder and wrapping herself around him instead. The fact that he hadn't budged one bit impressed her to no end. _'Such strength...'_ she thought as her mind began to wander to 'other things'.

With such 'top quality prey', she knew she had no room for mistakes. She must make it right, and therefore she reigned in her over active imagination and regained control of herself. She pulled her head back and stared straight into his deep mysterious blue eyes with a pair of passionate tear-filled puppy eyes. "Don't you get it, Zero? My nickname is Ardent, and like a torch, I am easy to turn on."

'_Damn, she's good,'_ he thought as he listened to her statements. At some level, he knew it was just a bunch of baloneys, yet there's little he could do other than keep listening.

"Love always start unannounced, Zero. I am in love!" declared the red hair beauty. Her initial sad and apologetic tone began changing to that of a dramatic one as she spoke. "I am in love. With you," she purred softly and flirtatiously. That tone, and even her gaze, was further evolved into a fervent one. Her passionate gaze never left his as she studied his reactions closely.

'_Oh crap,'_ he thought as he broke eye contact with her almost immediately after her declaration. He was forced to response quickly, "Uh, Kirche, um..." Yet, his mind was coming up empty. Breaking eye contact and giving her an awkward smile was pretty much all he could do at the moment.

Seeing his eyes shifting everywhere but looking at her, Kirche decided to push a little further and got a little closer so that his eyes were in line with hers. "I know my love may be too sudden," she said, appearing quite apologetic.

For Zero, that apologetic appearance was akin to a critical hit striking home. He simply don't know how to handle them and froze. Luckily for Zero, Kirche soon shifted her tone to that of passion and admiration.

"However, it cannot be help. The way you looked when you defeated Guiche was so fantastic. Seeing you then, Kirche the Ardent became Kirche the Passionate," she praised passionately as she lean forward, eyes close and lips pouting, ready for a fervent kiss. Unfortunately for her, the new tone she's using had a much less effect on Zero, and he unfroze.

'_Oh great,'_ he thought. If there was one thing he learn coming to this world, it would be that kisses were dangerous. The last time a girl kissed him on the lip, she claimed to be his master and he had to live by her rules or so she says. It was unfortunate that he was too dazed to avoid it last time. This time, however, he would do everything in his power to avoid that. He wouldn't want her to sprout out nonsense about being his new master or something. Just imagine the chaos that would be unleashed upon this world should that happen and Louise learns of it. It would be apocalyptic...

Even if the changing of master does not happen, he would still avoid such kiss. It's simply not in his or her interest to start a romantic relationship here. While his mind raced to come up with a solution to get out of this 'sweet trap', he slowly leans his head back. When nothing came up still, he realized he had really came unprepared and that he had underestimated her. It's not like he can't break free of her embrace by force but he really didn't want to resort to that. It will be like cheating and should only be use as a last resort. As he stared at her enticing lips edging ever closer to his, his opinion started to change. Like staring into the mouth of the abyss ready to swallow him whole, he had no options left - albeit, it was a rather sweet abyss...but no, he had to break free or else he's screwed. Convinced, he prepared himself for just that.

Luck was on his side, however, as the window suddenly swung wide open and a man appeared, seemingly floating in mid air. "Kirche!" the man bellowed, getting their attentions. Zero recognized the man almost immediately. He was one of Kirche's admirers, which means this was one of those angry boyfriends who had been trying to pick a fight with him. What's more; this was among one of the more persistent 'angry ones', which means he had been stalking him - to some extent anyway. Who would have thought this particular 'simpleton' would save him from his predicament! As the reploid kept an eye on his 'savior/stalker', however, he couldn't help but have this sinking feeling that he would soon have to put the man out...

As for the 'ill-fated' man, unsurprisingly, he didn't appear very happy at what he saw...

"Oh, hey Styx," greeted Kirche. She was mildly surprised by his sudden appearance, but she managed to keep her calm relatively well.

The man, however, wasn't sharing her calm and he spoke rather forcefully, "You did not show up on time so I came here and-"

"Well then, let's change that to two hours from now," came the red hair beauty's simple response, cutting off the man's complaint.

"That's not what you said-" Styx protested. He wanted to say more but was cut short by a fire ball to his face. The casanova fell off the window and out of view soon afterward.

"Erm..." was all Zero said.

Sensing his questioning tone, Kirche responded, "Oh, he's just a friend of mine." Her answer was natural, easily brushing aside the unplanned incident. Her alluring smile came back full force as she turned back to him. She frowned a bit when she realized he was now a foot away from her. Since she needed to release him in order to cast her spell, Zero was able to discreetly loosen himself from her clutches. Not dissuaded, she smiled fervently and began her charm offensive again. "Now where were we-"

"Kirche! Who is that guy?!" Another man popped up by her window, interrupting her...passion. "I thought we are going to have a hot passionate nighttt-" He never get to finish his sentence as a fire ball shot from one of the candles inside her room hitting him square in the face. Like the first man, he fell out off the window and disappeared from view.

"Um, another one of your friends?" stated Zero, teasingly. By now, he had regained much of his composure and was fairly amused at the situation. The fact that she was no longer clinching onto him physically made him confident in his ability to get away, so there's nothing to fear.

"That's right," answered the passionate woman. Once again, she smiled fervently and began stalking her prey. "Anyway, the night is short, and I don't want to waste our time anymore-"

"Kirche!" shouted three men in unison. This time, it was a trio of man struggling for dominance over her window that stopped her advance on the handsome blond. "What are you doing? You said you don't have a boyfriend!" they said, each trying to gain the upper hand over the other.

"Manica! Ajax! Gimly! Ah, then in about six hours-" Kirche offered. She wanted to say more, but didn't get the chance.

"That'd be morning!" the trio complained, interrupting her.

"Flame," ordered the fire mage. The salamander responded and a huge ball of fire was shot out from its mouth, hitting the trio by the window. Once the trio fell out of sight, Kirche turn around only to find Zero no longer by her side. She looked further and found him by the door.

While Kirche was dealing with her 'friends', Zero had been quietly slipping further and further away. Unfortunately, he was spotted when he was inches away from the door. Realizing she had caught sight of him, he decided to speak first. "Hmm, it looks like you have a lot of things going on so I shall excuse myself. Bye, Miss Kirche."

Kirche put on her sad puppy facade and looked back at Zero, "Zeroo-"

"Wow, would you look the time!" exclaimed Zero, cutting her off and interrupting her thought. "It's that late already. I got to get going now or else Louise is going to be really mad! Ahahaha!" And with that said, he left her room, never once looking back.

Kirche was left staring at her closed door. It was like she blinked, and he was gone. It was utmost frustrating, but the Hunter of Love von Zerbst's blood runs hot in her. The harder her prey was to catch, the more determined she gets. "Humph, you just wait, Zero. I am not giving up yet," declared the red hair beauty, plotting her next attempt.

And just like that, the 'fish' is off the hook, for now anyway...

* * *

Once Zero left Kirche's room, he began walking toward Louise's room. Halfway to his destination, he encountered a frantic Siesta running down the hallway. "Hey Siesta, what's the matter? What's the hurry?"

"Oh Zero-san, Marteau-san is in trouble and I am trying to see if anyone can help!"

'_Marteau the head chef?'_ the reploid thought. He had met the chef a few days earlier. His impression of the guy can be described with one word: 'weirdo'. Seriously, the large man tried to kiss him the first time they met and gave him a ridiculous nick name... Still, Zero believed the guy is a nice person at heart, just a bit odd. Plus, Siesta was keen on helping him so he decided to see what he can do. "Calm down, Siesta, and tell me what happened."

...

...

...

"So Head Chef Marteau injured his wrist and he has to carve some kind of giant statue out of some giant fruit by morning while his qualified apprentices were on a leave and won't be back until late afternoon tomorrow?" Zero clarifies. The maid nodded her head in confirmation.

They were now walking past a field of grass and approaching near the Alvíss Dining Hall. Out of the corner of his eyes, Zero spotted five figures watching him from afar and they all seemed to want a piece of him. It appears Kirche's 'friends' had now locked onto him as their number one competitor for that flirtatious woman's...passion. _'Oh, that's just great...'_ the reploid mentally grimaced, fighting hard not to sigh in front of Siesta. He didn't want to drag the girl into his problems.

The door to the dining hall was in view and the unfriendly stalkers were still nearby but Zero decided to ignore them for now. He and Siesta entered the Alvíss Dining Hall and made their way to the kitchen.

From a distant, Zero could heard the head chef was giving out orders. When he finally entered the room, he was greeted by the biggest fruit he had ever seen. The enormous fruit was as tall as he was and easily twice as wide. Its skin was pealed off, revealing a smooth, rich pearl like layer underneath. It was currently sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by a bunch of workers with Marteau in command trying to carve a figure out of it. From what he could see, the figure resembled some kind of clumsy creature that stood upright, but he couldn't tell what it was. It was simply too early of a stage to tell.

Upon seeing Zero, Head Chef Marteau greeted enthusiastically, "Oh, Our Sword, you came! To whom do we owe such an honor!?"

'_Ugh, he's still calling me that...'_ Zero resisted the urge to roll his eyes at such ridiculous nick name. In his opinion, it's ten times worse than 'Laundry Assassin'. Still, he came here to help so all of that will have to wait. "Hello, Head Chef Marteau," the hunter greeted politely in return. "I heard from Siesta you needed some help so I came to see what I can do."

"Oh, Our Sword, you are such a kind soul; but as you can see, we got this covered," the chef stated confidently.

"Oh no, I think I cut in too deep."

"Ah shit, a crack had appeared alongside the left wing! This is bad!"

"What are you boys doing!?" Marteau snapped his attention back to the task at hand. "Quick, hold onto this side for me!" The skilled chef grabbed a knife and attempted to correct the mistake made by his inexperienced helper. Unfortunately for the chef, his injured wrist didn't agree with him doing such work and... "Urgh!" Marteau cried out in pain and nearly dropped his knife.

Seeing the man's struggle, Zero sighed and grabbed a similar knife nearby before stepping beside the chef. "Tell me where you wanted to sink this blade."

"Oh, Our Sword, how pathetic have I became!? Ah, how could I show my disgraced self in front of Our Sword, Our Hero, Our Great Champion!?" said Marteau dramatically.

"Er..." was Zero's only response. He's having a hard time dealing with this over dramatic, over the top...human being (moron); and from the way this guy is acting around him, he is fast becoming his number one fan - his devoted, number one, crazy fan. He seriously doesn't want that to happen...Ever. He already had a bald, old guy following him around. He certainly doesn't need another, especially this one. Seriously, the one he had was bad enough but this...this is just creepy. Clearing his mind, the reploid spoke, "Let's focus on the job at hand, okay? Now then, would you tell me where to begin?" He felt he had to get them back to the task at hand or else this will go nowhere. Once this is over, he is so high tailing out of here.

"Oh, Our Sword," Marteau began dramatically once again but was silence by Zero's subtle discomforted expression. "Right," the chef said, getting the message. "Now then, Our Sword, are you ready?" the chef asked, his tone turning serious for the first time since the reploid entered the room. "Good, first..." Putting on a game face, he then proceeded to point and explains to Zero exactly where to cut, how deep to go, and which part they don't need.

For Zero's part, he was doing an excellent job at following Marteau's instructions. His knife was moving at a fast pace and showed no signs of hesitation. It was as if he had done this a million times. In fact, he was so good at it that he was able to make minor adjustment of his own before Marteau was able to correct himself and avoid a number of costly mistakes. Soon, under the expert guidance of Marteau and the precise knife work of Zero, the area where a small crack appeared was surgically removed and the figure's anatomy was starting to take shape.

"Our Sword, who taught you such amazing knife work? Such grand master must be among the top ten chefs in all of Halkeginia!"

"Hm? I know of no other chef besides you," answered Zero honestly and absentmindedly, not really paying the head chef much attention. His focus was mostly on the 'work of art' that he help created, eyes scanning for any more improvements he could make. The upper half of the sculpture was nearly done, and it resembled a penguin, completed with a pair of flippers stretched to either side. The lower half needed a lot more work, however, as it had barely been touched.

"Bu-but such amazing skills..."

Seeing the wondering expression on the chef's face, the reploid sighed and explained, "I may know nothing about cooking but when it come to slicing things up, you can count on me."

"Aha ha ha ha! You did cut a mage's golems to pieces! I guess I should not have expected anything less from Our Sword! I doubt there's anything Our Sword isn't capable of! Hahahaha!" the chef declared excitedly.

"Er... Trust me; I am not that great, and the golems were nothing special. Really, anyone could have done that. Your work as a chef, however, is much more amazing than any fighting skill I have," said the reploid, trying to downplay his own deed. "Anyway, why don't we get back to our work?" he said trying to move them back to their task at hand.

The excited chef, however, wasn't listening anymore. He was more interested in idolizing and worshiping the reploid before him. "Hey, you guys! Did you see that? This is what being a true master is all about! Always modest and never boasting of their skills! We must watch and learn! A true master has come and grace us with his presence!" Marteau exclaimed enthusiastically, and everyone in the kitchen listens. The over dramatic head chef did it again, praising and immortalizing the reploid. But worst of all, he was trying to convert everyone into a crazy fan and it seems to be working...

"...Where should I cut next?" said Zero, staring at the chef somewhat annoyed. Under normal circumstances, the reploid would just have laughed at the big man and think nothing of it. However, he had been plagued by creepy and unfriendly stalkers lately. He desperately wanted to avoid adding anymore to the already horrible mix, especially this. Seriously, the head chef here had easily surpassed every fan the legendary hunter had ever met and became, by far, the creepiest of them all.

"Oh, Our Sword-" the head chef began but stopped himself mid sentence after seeing his the way his idol was eyeing at him. Once again, the big man turned serious. "Right...right. So let's continue."

...

...

...

"Is that it?" Zero asked.

"Why, yes Our Sword, we are done!" exclaimed the ever dramatic chef.

Zero stared at the sculpture he help created and frowned a bit. The upper half looked like a cute penguin, but the bottom half was just one big blob. However, he wisely decided not to question any further. After all, he had seen a number of strange creatures before...

"What's wrong, Our Sword?" Marteau asked slightly concerned as he noticed the slight frown on Zero's face.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," answered the reploid. "Anyway, it's getting late. I think I should get going now." With that, Zero proceeded to leave the kitchen before the chef could say anymore.

"Ahh, such a fine lad," the chef said, staring at the exit of the kitchen. Then he turned around and call out, "Alright people, let's finish up here!"

* * *

Zero hastily reached the exit of the great dining hall and stepped outside. He didn't want to deal with the creepy chef anymore. As soon as he stepped outside of the dining hall and into the open field, he felt five hidden presences watching him. More specifically, he felt five piercing gaze filled with ill intents, directed straight toward him from five different locations: three hiding around some corners on ground level and two in some higher places.

As the hunter continued his walk toward the student dorm trying to act normal, he can't help but sighed. He had a pretty good idea who those five individuals were but he didn't want to 'do them harm'. After all, they did help him get away from Kirche's...'fervent passion', even if it was only indirectly. Still, he had a desire of not wanting conflicts with them.

After half a minute of walking calmly and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, Zero felt their gaze toward him had only intensified - he sensed bloodlusts. The hunter decided to change tactic and change the way he walks. He broaden his shoulder, stood up straight, and walked with powerful and confident strides, hoping to send out a warning sign to those who wanted to cause him harm and make them think twice before doing something stupid. He did defeat a mage a couple of days ago - and with seemingly ease too - so that should gave him enough of a reputation to ward off idiots who wanted to try their luck.

Hopefully, these idiots have a brain to think first and not be blinded by their teenage...urges (hormones, specifically: testosterone). But then, deep down, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. If those five idiots out there were indeed the ones that had followed him earlier - which he was pretty sure they were and that was almost two hours ago - and they were still lurking around, then there's little chance they would let him go peacefully. Still, he can hope...

Zero moved forward, but he had not even managed to take ten steps before...

"Stop right there, commoner!" a man shouted from high above.

'_Oh great. One of them had finally decided to drop by, and he's crafting himself a nice little entrance while he's at it too...'_ thought the hunter, barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes though his shoulder did slumped a bit. The reploid watched with a blank expression as a mage slowly decent from a high castle wall. Short brown hair, a square face, and generally looking like he's in his late twenties, the reploid recognized this man. 'Styx' was what Kirche called him. He was the first casanova of the night and one of the worst 'angry boyfriends'. Zero couldn't help but winced ever so slightly at that...

Styx slowly descent down toward the familiar; showing off his immense skill and supreme control as a highly accomplished mage. Such grand entrance, such grand display of power and skill should instill fear to all commoners who witness upon it and inspire greatness from all others. And this lowly commoner - this lowly familiar - should be of no exception. After all, he was a 'line mage' and this was just a simple commoner. Yes, he had heard tales of how easily this commoner managed to defeat a mage. In fact, that's all he had been hearing lately, whether it was from Kirche or others... Humph! It must have been a fluke. No honorable mage would ever lose to a commoner. Such a disgrace only proved how inexperienced and a failure that Guiche de Grammont was. Such disgraceful greenhorn cannot be compared to him or his greatness! With that in mind, he gave the familiar a menacing glare. He expects the commoner to cower before him, but what he got was just a blank stare. What's more, the commoner was beginning to walk away, ignoring him. "Did you not hear what I said, commoner?! Hold!"

Zero sighed, then turned and faced the noble. "I know what you wanted to say. Look, it's not my problem the lover of your life shunned away from you-"

"Shut up, commoner! I don't know what trick you use on my innocent Kirche, leading her astray, but I shall put a stop to that!" exclaimed the mage angrily and righteously.

'_...Innocent...Kirche...?'_ Zero looked at the man as if he was insane, but the man didn't seem to notice and keep on blabbing.

"In the honor of my beautiful Kirche, I challenge you to a duel! I shall prove to her once and for all that I am the strongest and most suitable man for her hot, passionate love!" declared Styx.

"Stop right there, Styx! I am not letting you getting the glory of defeating this familiar. I shall be the one to challenge and defeat him, proving my undying love for MY ever passionate Kirche!" another man shouted as he descended from another part of the castle wall, much faster than the first.

'_Ugh great, just what I need: another idiot decided to show up...'_ thought Zero watched. The second man, as Zero noted, was the second casanova of the night. He had light blond hair down to his jaw line and looked more close to a teenager than the other one. Judging from what he heard, the reploid concluded this new comer was just as fanatic as the first...

"Pelisson! I don't have time to deal with you right now!"

"Shut it, Styx! On this very night, I shall prove to Kirche and everyone else who is the strongest and most suitable for her love once and for all!"

While those two were arguing among themselves, Zero attempted to sneak away. Slowly and quietly, the reploid began edging away inconspicuously, just like what he did earlier. He was doing well and was almost out of their sight; that was until a fire ball shot right past him and exploded near his feet, scorching the land right in front of him.

"Where do you think you are going, commoner?!" the first idiot shouted arrogantly and looked on with a triumphant grin, while the second one frowned.

Another attempt in a peaceful resolution failed and Zero was nearing his limit...

"What's the matter, commoner? Are you afraid? Ha, not that I blame you; after all, I am a line mage," Styx boasted.

"And so am I, familiar. You are not getting away that easily," said the other confidently.

The boys never quite realized the danger they faced and kept on taunting, thinking the familiar was an easy mark. Zero calmly turned around and stared at them, unimpressed, as they approach carelessly, closing the distant. Contrary to the duo's believes, the familiar saw them as nothing more than really annoying pests...

Still, Zero tried. "We should not be fighting with each other. I mean, what would Miss Zerbst think when she see us hurting each other. She will be sad," he said. Yes, he fully knew what he said was just a big fat lie and not a very convincing one at that. Still, he hoped and sought after peace - despite being pressed to his limit. With great self restrain, he managed to stay calm and reasoned that beating up these idiots here won't necessary solve his problem. In fact, it could make the matter worse as more dumb-asses might want to try their luck. He even went to great length and convinced himself that they had helped him earlier, and so to put them out now would be considered 'cruel'...

"Ha, you are not going to talk your way out of this, commoner. Once Kirche see you are nothing but a fraud, she will abandon the likes of you. Now choose. Who do you want to fight?"

"..." Zero's eyes started to twitch. He was at a lost of word, at a lost of what to do next really. Here he was, trying to be nice, trying to avoid unnecessary conflicts, trying oh so very hard not beating them into bloody pulps; and there they were, acting like morons, pushing him unrelentingly close to the very edge, and practically begging to have their miserable existences put out right before their very eyes. These fools...

"Come on; take your pick, familiar. We don't have all night. Or perhaps you need the permission of your master, 'Louise the Zero'? Well in that case, maybe we should bring her out here as well."

Such comment drew out a frown from Zero.

"Humph, or better yet, we should 'invite' that cute little maid you are with earlier. Perhaps she could give you the encouragement you need, commoner."

These words made Zero narrowed his eyes dangerously at the two for a second, but to Zero's credit, he managed not to blow up and remain calm. He thought this through coldly before replying, "Fine, I will fight, but I insisted that you will leave them alone. For that matter, I insisted you stop bothering me or people around me." Yes, these idiots had sealed their own fate and never once realizing it. However, he figured that if he's going to do some ass kicking here, he will make damn sure that it '_will_' serve a purpose...

"I commend your bravery, commoner. For you have challenged me to Kirche's love!"

"Hah, what are you talking about, Styx? This familiar is challenging me and my passion to Kirche, my goddess!"

'_These idiots are really something...'_ thought Zero, shaking his head, as he watch those two bickering about their undying love for their 'goddess' again, ignoring him once more. Soon, having had quite enough with their idiocy, he exploded, "SILENCE! I don't give a damn about what you think or what you want! If you wanted to add Kirche into the equation, fine! Whatever, let's do that so shut up!"

That got the nobles' attention, and they looked at him at once. Silently, they watched, a little shocked at his sudden outburst.

These dumb-asses were really getting on Zero's nerves, but just as quick as he lost his temper, the reploid recovered and regained his composure. "Now then, where were we?" he said, looking around. "Ah that's right." The hunter then pointed at around some corners and shouted, "You three boys over there! Why don't you come out here as well?! I rather get this over with all at once."

A few seconds later, a figure emerged and walked forward from a corner. He was then followed by another who emerged from a different corner. Soon, a third figure followed suit and they all began approaching the familiar.

"Manica! Ajax! Gimly! What are you three dot mage doing here? Surely, you don't think you could challenge me?" asked Styx once the three newcomers came into view.

"Haha, you three are probably thinking that I will be weaken after defeating these two and wanted to take advantage of that," assumed Pelisson. The three newcomers winced a bit at that. "Humph, I shall inform you that it's not going to happen," said the line mage confidently. After some thought, however, he smiled wickedly and suggested, "But since you are here already, why don't we have a Battle Royal instead huh?"

The nobles began looking at each other, sizing up their competition and seriously considered such proposition...until Zero started chuckling at them darkly that is...

"Heh, heh, heh, Battle Royal? Don't be kidding yourselves, fools. I will be taking all of you at once," the reploid announced dangerously. He had enough with their nonsense. His blood was boiling, and he wanted badly to smash something right now. Still, Zero being Zero, he somehow managed to put a lid over his anger and chillingly added in, "And don't say I didn't warn you: focus all of your attention on me if you wish to last 'A. Few. More. Seconds'."

Zero's low terrifying warning had set off alarm bells from within the three inexperienced dot mages, and they cringed. Still, they braved it all and stood firm. It was all for their goddess, Kirche, and they were not going to back down now. Although the three dot mages realized their chance of victory was slim, each teen was convinced that they would be the sole survivor, that they would be victorious in the end, that their goddess would watch over them; Kirche would favor them, giving them power to overcome all odds. After all, love triumphs all, right? In truth, reality was a much crueler place. What they were actually experiencing was more akin to 'testosterone overwriting reasons'...

While Zero's warning had set off alarms to the three less experienced mages, Styx was not all that impressed. After all, he was a line mage. What threat could possibly come from a commoner? The only real threat that could threaten him came from that crafty Pelisson. Humph! He's confident he could handle whatever that sly bastard could throw at him. In fact, he was as confident as ever. Way too confident, really...

Like Styx, Pelisson paid little heed to the familiar's warning. He was more wary of Styx than anyone else. However, he was also quite confident in his own abilities to dominate the dot mages. That meant he only needed to play his cards right and take out his greatest rival. Then everything would fell into his favor. It shouldn't be that hard to get off a shot; after all, there were three dot mages running around, distracting his greatest enemy, Pelisson thought confidently. The risks the familiar represents didn't even make it into his calculation...

The mages and Zero started gathering, ready for their showdown. As the mages gathered, they were sizing up each other; some appeared nervous while others were confident. Then there was Zero, who didn't seem to have paid attention to anyone. He simply put on an amusing smile, which in turned made him appeared a bit creepy...

"Firebird!" Styx bellowed suddenly, signaling the start of their duel. A huge ball of fire in the shape of a bird erupted from his wand and headed straight for the commoner. Since there were so many opponents to take out, the noble figured he would start with the weakest one first. That, he believed, would set off the tone for the night. He watched as his spell strike right on target and exploded upon contact. Thick black smoke filled the place where his opponent once stood and he smirked triumphantly. "Humph, you certainly talk big, com-" The noble never got the chance to finish his sentence as a hand shot out from the cloud of smoke and grabbed him in the face. Less than a second later and certainly before he had any idea what just happened, he was off of his feet. Then he felt a great impact and promptly lost all consciousness...

"Well, that was underwhelming," Zero chuckled wickedly after he callously shoved the noble's head onto ground, knocking him out cold. Slowly and with a cruel smile in place, he removed his grip from the noble's face and stood up. He turned and began stalking over to the four remaining teenage nobles with a predatory grin in full view. "I hope you boys would provide me more challenge than that."

Pelisson watched in disbelieve. He was wrong. Styx was not the greatest threat after all. This familiar is by far a much greater threat than Styx ever was. Seeing how easily the familiar dispatched Styx, his greatest rival, he nearly froze. Somehow, the noble managed to snap out of his daze and gathered his wit. He refused to go down without a fight. His mind began to think. That's right; there were three dot mages with him. If he can rally them all, he might still stand a chance. He looked over his shoulder only to found them standing there in stupor. "Wh-what are you three waiting for?! A-attack!" he shouted.

Shaken but still determine, the three pointed their wands and began chanting their spells. Pelisson joined them while Zero watched amusingly, an evil grin plastering on his face. Not a moment later, four spells simultaneously burst forward from their wands and hit Zero head-on, engulfing him whole.

When the dust settled a few seconds later, a figure emerged. "Aww, you ruin my clothes," the figure joked. Truth to his words, Zero came out with his butler clothes burnt and torn in many places. However, he suffered no damage from their pathetic assaults beyond the cheap clothes he's wearing. Looking at them like a hawk on mice, he noticed something. "Hmm? What's the matter, boys? Why are you all shaking? Is that fear I smelled?" he laughed. "Hahah, oh, but I am afraid it's too late for you to back out of this now, boys," stated the hunter. His voice was low, wicked and very inhuman. Then he approached them, a menacing smile in place, promising great reckoning.

Testosterone charged or not, it was all too clear to the four nobles that they stood no chance whatsoever against him. They were not fighting a commoner, they realized. No commoner can be this strong; no, they were fighting... a 'demon'. Convinced, the three dot mages turned and ran in different directions. Pelisson retained enough presence of his mind to cast himself a levitation spell. Everyone began fleeing for their lives; then...

PONG – THWACK – POW – PUCK

Unfortunately for these boys, Zero didn't feel like playing tonight. The four mages were quickly and ruthlessly rendered unconscious. The three dot mages never made more than three steps before the hunter knock them out. Pelisson never got five feet off the ground before he too was incapacitated. Staring at the five unconscious bodies laying on the field, Zero began thinking what to do with them. Once he made up his mind, he set out and arranged for their 'appropriate punishment'...

* * *

Once again, Louise found herself sitting in front of her mirror at night, alone, brushing her hair, and deep in thought. The source of all her grievances was that ungrateful familiar of hers. Yes, she realized that her familiar can be quite amazing, but the problem she had at the moment was the lack of control over him. That was right; she had no control whatsoever over her own familiar and that was maddening. What was the use of a familiar if she can't control it?! What was the point of having one if he comes and goes as he please, or do whatever he want?!

Her hair brush hit and stuck on a particular knot and a frown quickly formed across the Louise's face. It was just so frustrating dealing her familiar. The more she thinks about him, the deeper her frown gets. Her familiar still had no respect for her. He continued to fail a familiar's responsibility, and that is following orders! His tendencies to mess with her authority every chance he got made her blood boils; but worst of all, he seemed enjoy doing it. An image of her familiar's arrogant smirk popped into her mind. "Arrrgghh!" the pink hair girl growled and tucked hard at her hair brush. The knot became undone at the expense of some of her hairs.

Come to think of it, he still refused to dress her, citing something about against the law to look at underage children from where he came from. Thinking about that and the smug face he wore when he said that made her more and more furious. He was just her familiar! How dare he talk to her like that! Plus, she was sixteen; she's not underage! Her brush stroke came faster and faster and with increasing intensity as her rage built up.

Then she saw the date circled in red on her calendar. The familiar exhibition was drawing near and yet she still had no idea what he was planning. Given his horrific past records of mishaps, would he screw this up just to embarrass her in front of everyone? She panicked for a split second at such thoughts, her knuckles turning white.

No, she shook her head and slammed her hair brush on the desk. She had got to stop thinking negatively. She had summoned him, and thus it's her job to teach him who is in charge. It won't be easy, she admitted, but it's her job. Plus, she does recognize his strength and taming a strong familiar like him would prove to others that she's a worthy mage! The more she thought about the prospect the more convinced she got.

That's right! She is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, the proud third daughter of House of Vallière! It was she who summoned him! Therefore, it would be she who subdues him! HA! If that was how life decided to test her resolves, she accepts! After all, she had been through tougher challenge than this, and she had yet to give up! She's certainly not going to let this minor setback hold her down! Suddenly pumped up with determination, the pink hair mage clear her desk and took out her notes and a number of books. She then began going through them, trying to find any clue on how to subdue her damnable familiar!

...

...

...

Louise opened her eyes and saw a figure over of her. Thinking that an intruder was upon her, she reacted and slapped the figure across the face. The figure pulled away and sighed, "Is that what I get for tucking you in bed?"

Realizing that it was her familiar, Louise sat up and faced him. "Humph! Where had you been?!" she demanded, still tying to shake off her sleepiness, and ignored his complain. He didn't deserve her kindness anyway, she fumed. She heard a few vague replies but she ignored them. Once her vision cleared, she looked at him and noticed for the first time that he was dressed in rags. "And what happened to your clothes?!"

"Oh that? Well, when you get famous like I did, there will inevitably be wannabes who wants to try their luck."

There he goes again, playing games with her. With her rage still fresh in her mind, she was ready to lash out. However, she stopped herself. She remembered most books suggested that it was best to use a combination of rewards and punishments to tame problematic familiars. Usually, food is the best incentive to get a familiar's attention and force should only be use when all else fails. Nurturing a strong bond between familiar and master is recommended...

...Well, she just knew punishment doesn't work well, and her familiar cares little about food. As frustrating as it may be, she will have to find something else. Dealing with him, she realized, she'll have to be smart about it. Taking some time to clear her mind and think over what he said, she came to a conclusion.

If what he was saying was true, then she could understand why he acted so strangely these pass few days. Reflecting upon her memories, what he was implying sounded true and she cursed herself for not paying enough attention to her familiar's plight. Suddenly, she felt guilty for being such a poor master... "Is that why you have been acting so strange lately?" she voiced her concerns, a small frown stretching across her face.

"When you get famous like I did-"

"I get it. I get it," she cuts him off, irritated. "They finally managed to corner you and you had to fight them off. And that is why you came back so late," she concluded, showing off her supreme reasoning skill.

Zero gave her an enigmatic smile. The truth was of course not what she had imagined. There were a number of adventures he had for the night, and taking out those '_trash_' had probably been the least time consuming. However, he's not going to argue with her on that. Let her fill in the blank as she pleased; it's probably the best and safest option for him, he mused. There's absolutely no need to mention his other '_adventures_', especially his encounter with Kirche...

Looking at the state of her familiar's attire, Louise muttered to herself, "It must have been a tough fight, and you were fighting unarmed..." The statement caused her familiar to raise an eyebrow, but she paid him no mind and announced, "Get some rest, Zero. We are getting up early tomorrow!"

With that, Louise fell back to bed and slept while Zero watched her in amusement...

Chapter End

* * *

AN: Profanity filtering button = yes. I don't know which form of the f-word is not considered as profanities…great filtering system …

Anyway, Kirche was originally the only stalker but then I changed my mind because I wanted to make Zero miserable. LOL The thing I really needed to accomplish here is an excuse to get 'you know who'. The boys simply became a sacrificial lamb. The challenge though was to get Zero out in the open late at night where the boys could gang up on him.

In the end, Marteau was used. The chef was an essential character for Saito's survival but not so much for Zero's, and that's why he was turned into the kind of joke here…

Originally, though, I intended to do some kind of copy and paste with Marteau from 'Blade of Void'. Ultimately, it doesn't fit the needs for these scenarios so I went ahead and did something original instead. Anyways, Zero is not a chef and the only thing he could be useful in the kitchen is cutting things up so a giant fruit - 'Toriko' style - was use because I can't think of anything else…

Zero's move on Styx is the same move Jura used on the Thunder God Slayer in Fairy Tail.

Kirche vs Zero – current score: Kirche 1; Zero 0. May change in future…LOL

Reply rantings: Not for the faint of hearts…LOL

Junky: As said in my PM, public reviews should have public responses. If you PM me, I'll PM you in return. My replies are for third party members who may have similar opinions but for whatever reasons never went ahead and express it, as much as the reviewers themselves. Why do I assume as such? Because I am one of them. When reading a fic, I don't just read them. I read the reviews and/or any reply from author too. It gave me better understanding to things. Good questions deserve good answers which could result in good ideas. Good ideas should be shared. Blade of Void's reviews/AN had a mixture of good and bad which prompted me to write this fic, and I hope some of you might do the same with mine…

General reply: Hmm…I got a feeling that many of you got the victim's role reverse. LOL Remember, Zero played mind games with Louise and have fun while doing so. The laundry disaster could be avoided but his pride led to the destruction of her wardrobes and he hadn't really done anything useful for her so far. Even his apologies were weak. Louise may have an attitude problem, but she did offer him sanctuary within the academy; her requests weren't unreasonable most of the time. What she got in return was blood pressure shooting up through the roof…LOL Now for grammar problems in general, unless it is really specific, I…will ignore you.

serialkeller: Bipolar? Hmm…I thought chapter 4 explained it fairly well - reasons to stay and the whole 'freeloader' thing. Regardless, let's take a look between her orders and orders from Zero's past 'employers'. Louise's orders: go get my note; you sleep outside tonight; wash my clothes! Ciel's tasks: Zero, please infiltrate this base; please, destroy the oncoming armies. Elpizo: go destroy this power plant; raid that train! Hunter Organization: Reploid Force had gone rogue, destroy them. But they are not mavericks. Destroy them! …See any issue there? Shifting between amused and serious instantly is what 'spy-type' badasses often do. It allowed them to turn on/off and build character dept. After all, one-dimensional characters are boring…

pltrgst: Well, since doesn't offers me a permanent solution to idiots like those, I planned to just let the world know how dumb they are… Anyways, beholder type enemies…I don't recall any. Regardless, eyeball type enemies in MM universe, if there's any, will most likely be mechanical in nature. 'Bugbear' is most likely an organic creature. The prolong fight is actually not that long; around 10 minutes or so, from start to 'spank'. It only feels long because the passage was long. Saito and Guiche's fight was stretched too and it was much more boring, yet a large crowd was present. And finally, I agree with you that Zero is acting weird at times (lots of times). Remember when I told you he is OOC in later chapters. These latest chapters were what I meant. I had mix feelings about them too, but I don't know how to fix them…LOL

Gojira Geek &amp; LL: Omega or Willy is unlikely as I simply don't know what to do with them.

xzT700: Frankly speaking, one familiar per void mage is all I can handle and most have their own in canon already…

Memento Mori - The Truth: You are right. I totally forget about that so let's throw in a cheap excuse. In this world there are 2 types of haste spells. One would be a common haste spell for wind element users that boost speed. The other one would be the much more potent and uncommon void element haste spell that manipulates time maybe? Does that work? I hope so cause I got nothing else.

Kolarthecool: Bid &amp; Bit…Hmm…you are right. Thanks. Ok, I fixed them all now, and I appreciate your help.

babaga he who laughs at anime: Waked up &amp; woke up…I don't see much difference, but I am no grammar teacher, I'll believe you…

Krazyfanfiction1: Interesting armor idea…though not likely…

ManaZero: It ultimately depends on how much fun I can get out of it. If it is fun enough, Colbert is doomed. I am not sure if I will ever complete this so a summery of what I wanted to happen is in the profile now. Possible spoilers of course but many of those may not make a lot of sense either.

Privatesargent: My thought exactly. God-like protagonist(s) should use their wits first. Violent response should only come if all else fails or as a tit-for-tat retaliation. That way the hero would look less like a bully. Plus, god-like fighting abilities could still have long and awesome fights with others. It really depends on how you wanted to do the fight itself. Not having god-like fighting abilities for most heroes summoned in FoZ would almost instantly qualify for OOC-ness…

(The following is what might happen if you publicly call people retards)

Guest #3: Despite against my better judgment, I could not resist giving you this reply. You're just so funny that I wanted to share this humor. First, whether you want to read any reference materials that I mentioned is up to you, but I like giving people credits to where credits are due. Now, to the commoner/armor issue – I totally agree with you that Zero in full battle armor could hardly be consider a commoner, but that's why I destroyed his armor in the first place. I honestly don't know what went wrong because I clearly stated in chapter 1 that, and I quote, 'his body armor was in pieces'. And here you're complaining about Zero 'decked to the teeth in strange armor' should not be label a commoner. You seriously wanted to call people retards with that? Which part of 'his body armor was in pieces' did you not understand? I felt like I gave someone an apple who had been demanding an apple only to get spat in the face and told I gave them the wrong fruit. You do realize how laughable that was, right? Ok, don't get me wrong. I am not mad. I am more interested in solving this problem. It's obvious my descriptions were not good enough (even though I thought I was). So if whoever is reading this has any idea how to fix this, write it down so that I can copy &amp; paste it over (only if it's good).

The commoner through appearance is an issue that exists in almost all FoZ crossovers. Granted the problem still exist in this fic, however, it was largely due to FoZ's own unique canon logic/background. In all accounts, Saito's attire should cause a few raised eyebrows. What he got though, was a universal commoner label without much thought. You'll have to ask FoZ's dead author why. I am just following canon logic.

Finally, a tip: anyone who wanted to do a successful FoZ crossover with a random hero and keep most of the canon events in FoZ, the commoner perspective is almost a must. If you don't have that, it will become really weird very fast. Admittedly, I struggle with that too, but I (in my mind as least) do have logical explanations for most things.

Anyway, end of ranting and see you next time…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7: Marks Of A God &amp; Words Of A Demon

Osmond rode his horse over night and finally arrived back to Tristain Magic Academy, back to his salvation... back to Miss Longueville. Yes, the couple of days he spent at his acquaintance's mansion had been nothing but hell. Every second spent with those 'people' was torturous. If it weren't for a number of portraits of Miss Longueville he brought alone for the trip, he would never have survived.

It was early morning and Osmond just entered the front gate. As soon as the head master got off his horse, he saw a number of staffs frantically hurrying away to somewhere. The old mage expanded his senses and tried to listen in.

"What?! Bring me there immediately! Oh, this is terrible news! We must inform this to the headmaster!"

"But he was out on a trip."

"Oh, where had he gone at a time like this?! We need him here!"

"Yes, but more importantly, we needed to catch the culprit."

"That's right! We must not allow the one responsible to get away!"

The old headmaster sighed. Whatever happened, he had a sinking feeling that it was not something he wanted to deal with at the moment. He just came back from what could only be described as the 'house of horror', and he had yet the time to rid himself of some very bad memories. He wasn't ready for crisis management. He wasn't ready for anything, not until he gets some rest...and checks the color of Miss Longueville's panty for the day. Yup, the idea was rather appealing, and so he decided to sneak away and do just that.

As the old headmaster cross the academy ground, he spotted a certain beautiful green hair woman from a distance away walking hastily toward an entrance to the building. Instantly, his tiredness seemed to have evaporated. Like a man lost in desert who happened to see an oasis from a distant, he was prepared to give chase. "Oh, Miss Longueville..." he muttered, his expression softened. Ah, his salvation was just a little ahead...

"Headmaster Osmond! Headmaster Osmond! We have big trouble!"

Old Osmond turned around to the source of the distress call and recoiled almost immediately. Plump face, round figure, it was Mrs. Chevreuse, and she triggered all sorts of horrible memories he had for the past few days. Images of a three-hundred-pound maid dressed in scandalous outfits insisting on washing his back immediately rushed to his mind. Then there was a maid with a pig like nose and pimples all over her face flirting with him every chance she got. Another one with a horse like face and rat like teeth wanting to 'warm his bed' by sleeping next to him. And so much more...

"Headmaster Osmond! Headmaster Osmond?"

"AH! Go away! I can wash my back myself!" the old mage reacted, backing away quickly, clearly traumatized.

"What are you talking about, headmaster? We don't have time for such silliness! Our students were attacked! As the headmaster, you must come see this and make a decision on the course of action!"

'_Attacked?'_ thought the headmaster, suddenly sobered up. He sighed and hoped the incident was not what he feared. "Take me to the scene."

* * *

"Weapon?" asked Zero as he climbed inside a carriage after Louise. Soon after they settled into their sits, the wagon took off.

"That's right. I am buying you a weapon," Louise announced proudly and carefully observed her familiar's reaction. She knew he was a warrior, and so she expected her offering of buying him a weapon would be something that excites him. That would improve their relation and show him that she's a wise and thoughtful master. She waited and watched for any signs of gratitude, but what she got was just a raised eyebrow. _'Why, that ungrateful...grrg,'_ Louise fumed, gritting her teeth, but she stopped herself from losing control. "Humph, you are the one who said you are being chase by other students, right?" she retorted sharply, staring straight into his eyes, daring him to say anything.

"Er..."

Although it was only slightly, she saw him back away. That gave her confident. She knew he could be difficult at times and that she will hit many bumps along the way, but she's determined to rein him in. And as far as she could tell, using her wisdom seemed to be the most effective when dealing with him and books from the night before suggested compassion as the way to go. She decided to use a combination of both. "It's a master's job to take care of their familiar," she said simply, folding her arms and appearing high and mighty as she began lecturing him.

As Zero listen, he cannot help but find her thoughts amusing. He doesn't need her to buy him a weapon. He's already the best weapon around - and that was true even at his current reduced state. Those he fought so far had not even come close in posing any threat to him. But then again, if it eases her concerns, if she thinks it was a good idea, he's certainly not going to stop or argue with her over something as trivial as this. Let her convince herself, the hunter mused, and began nodding his head and pretending to care. After a while though, he concluded that she just wanted to be praised for her effort which amused the hunter to no end...

"So, what kind of weapon are you good at?"

"Hmm, I am a weapon expert so anything will be fine," answered Zero. After a bit of thought, he jokingly added, "In fact, you could just give me a broom. I will wear it as a club and whack everyone into submission. There's no need for this trip."

"Don't be ridiculous! How could I let my servant walk around with something so crude and unrefined?! You will be a joke to everyone!" she screamed, her face red.

"Sure, sure," he replied smiling, not really care, as she went reprimanding him.

...

...

...

Three hours later, they arrived at the outskirt of the city. Once there, Louise paid the carriage driver and told him to wait for their return. Then she led Zero inside.

White cobblestone streets and many small twisting roads later, the two made their way to the heart of the bustling city. Compare with the academy, the city looked rather bleak. Sure, there were lots of people around with an open market bustling with activities and street venders everywhere, but the sight that greeted Zero spoke neither of wealth nor prosperity. Cracks were apparent on a number of buildings; streets were small and overcrowded; and commoners generally dressed far more inferior than maids back in the academy. Was there really that much of a difference between nobles and commoners? He frowned slightly at such thought.

Louise saw his frown and began thinking. _'This must be the first time he saw such a magnificent city,'_ she concluded, a suddenly feeling of superiority surged within her. Although she had recognized his strength, she still believed he was a country boy from some small, far away, unknown and unsophisticated kingdom that wasn't even significant enough to be put on a map. The ways he acted around people convinced her even further. After all, no respectable aristocrat would ever act the way he does. All of these meant he was just an unrefined commoner who had never been to a large city before, and it pleased her that she could boast to him. "What's the matter, Zero? Never seen an impressive city like this before?" Louise teased and smirked at him.

He snapped his attention to her and then looked at around some more and found a dozen of homeless beggars around the corners. "...Eh, you mean this slum?"

"Slum?" Louise huffed. "What are you talking about, you commoner? This is the capital of Tristain! It's one of the finest cities in the world!"

"...With tiny streets like these?" The reploid gestured to the particular two meter wide road they were walking on and a number of similar roads they had previously passed by.

"Tiny streets?! These are really wide roads as they are and look," she exclaimed, pointing straight ahead. "Bourdonné Street, Tristain's widest avenue which leads straight to the royal palace further ahead! Have you ever seen a wider road than that?"

"..." Zero looked at their so call widest avenue and felt nothing but pity for them. Really, it was a sad day for humanity when their widest street was less than five meters wide. Combining that with the number of people walking around, merchants and their goods laying everywhere, it was practically a disaster in waiting to be unfolded. Really, quite a city planning they had...

Zero's eyes scanned the crowds and expected misery all around, but to his surprise, commoners were generally pleased with their lives if the smiles on their faces were any indications. He saw no despair coming from them. A few beggars he passes by occasionally did display a bit of hopelessness but they certainly were not the kind of desolated gaze the humans displayed back in 'Area Zero' after they escaped from Neo Arcadia...

Louise studied her familiar's expression and found a slightly melancholy smile across his face instead of being impressed. Seriously, even though he didn't know any better, he still had to find ways to argue with her, thought Louise! However, since he didn't response anymore, she simply accepted her familiar as being weird. Victorious, she looked at her surrounding and suddenly decided to change to a more important subject. "Anyways, you still have my wallet, right? There are a lot of pickpockets around here."

"Relax Louise; no one can steal something that heavy."

"Humph, your lack of vigilance shows just how naive you are, Zero. With magic, that can be done in a second," she said.

"Those who know magic are nobles, right? Why would they bother stealing from us?" came Zero's indifferent response, interrupting Louise's train of thought.

"Harhum, that's why you are naive, Zero," Louise announced triumphantly. When Zero raised an eyebrow in question, she explained, "There exist commoners who were once nobles. Disowned from their families for whatever reasons, they resort to mercenary works or crimes. One cannot let their guards..."

Louise began her lecturing once again. Seeing it as another chance to show off her wisdom, she spoke with an air of superiority, but Zero had already lost interest on the subject. Although her weariness was largely sensible, the reploid did not really share her concerns. One general look at their surrounding and he could tell that there were nothing but commoners around here and poor ones only. If a former noble turned thief had resorted to conduct their 'activities' in these areas, it just meant their skills was lacking to begin with. He could be facing a bunch of 'Guiche', the hunter mused and smiled ever so slightly. Then again, dealing with a bunch of fools could be exhausting at times and he frowned...

"Hey, are you even listening to me?!" Louise snapped.

"So, where's the shop you were talking about?" Zero casually interrupted her again.

"Oh, why do I even bother..." Louise moaned. She recovered a moment later and began looking around, searching for the shop. "It should be near Peyman's Potion Shop... I remember it's around here somewhere..." Then she saw a bronze sign further down the street and cried, "Ah! Found it!"

A sword-shaped sign dangled under one of the many brick buildings; an arms dealer's shop. Zero stared at it for a second then followed Louise as she walked up to the building, opened the door, and entered. Once they went inside the store, they were greeted by many different kinds of weapons mounted on the walls, wooden weapon holders everywhere and large wooden barrels holding various worn arms.

'_This place lacks any sense of design,'_ thought the hunter as he looked around. The shop was fairly dark. The few windows it had did little to light things up. Instead, a few oil lamps were put in place to do the job. The weapons weren't arranged in any specific kind of way and were generally of poor qualities. Seriously, even Guiche's golem had better arms than these. And then there was the dust issue to content with. _'What is she think bringing me here?!'_ thought the hunter, losing interest to this place almost immediately. Just then something bumped at his feet. He looked down and found a cat rubbing itself against him. Curious, the reploid bent down and start playing with the cat...

Overwhelmed by the number of different kinds of weapons, Louise was promptly at a lost. "What type of weapons should I get?" she muttered, looking around.

Zero sighed but then answered, "...Sword would be the most standard type, right?"

Louise turned around and found her familiar playing with a cat. Such action irritated her and she frowned. Before she could walk over and give him a piece of her mind though, she heard someone emerging from the back of his storage room and decided to ignore her stupid familiar for now.

"Welcome to my weapon shop." He took a closer look at his customers and recognized one of them as a noble. The other one looked like a servant to the noble and was couching down, playing with some stray cat. He immediately smiled as charmingly as possible - which actually made him looked shadier. "Ah, a noble. What can my humble shop do for you today, milady?"

"I want to get a sword for my servant." Louise thrown a thumb behind her without looking, ignoring the suspicious looking smile the man had. She had a nagging feeling that she would only get herself angry if she turns around...

The store owner took a closer look at the man she pointed to. Pristine long blond hair in a nice black suit playing with a stray cat and lacking any sense of discipline... _'Tch, just another pretty boy,'_ he thought. "Ah, I understand," said the owner. Smiling, he went and search for a standard rapier for his customer while making small talk. "It has been a trend to let servants to carry weapons recently, even in the castle."

Louise held a long, thin blade with one hand and frowned. She didn't know what to think of it, but the weapon seemed too thin and light to her. She turned to her familiar and asked, "What do you think?" Her frown deepened and her eyes started to twitch at what she saw. He was playing with that cat and hardly paying attention. Having had enough of his attitude, she turned around angrily and demanded, "Get me a bigger and broader one!" She decided she would be calling the shot here so screw him or his preference!

One look at her servant, the owner simply knew the man was not someone who knew how to handle a blade. A rapier was the perfect weapon for him, he thought. Easy to use, safe to handle, it's the best weapon for beginners. Smiling, the store owner added in his opinion, "I am sorry, but I think this matches that person the most." Giving newbie more sophisticated weapons and they would only hurt themselves. Then these nobles would come here and blame him, the owner thought bitterly.

"I said I want bigger and boarder!"

"R-right away," the owner squeaked and retreated back into the storage room.

While Louise waits for the owner's return, she turned around and glared at her familiar. She could hardly believe this. Here she was trying to buy him something, and that no good familiar of hers was playing with some random cat! It was infuriating. The longer she stared at them however, the less anger she felt. The way that cat purred when its chin was scratched was just so cute...

"Want to play?" Zero offered.

"Humph!" Louise turned her head to the side, folded her arms, and pouted her lips. She kept a sideway glance at her familiar and that damn cat, fingers tapping her arm.

-z-z-

"Damn, amateur nobles..." muttered the store owner as he searched through his inventory. He came across a large golden blade and began thinking. _'She wants a large blade? Fine, I'll give her one,'_ he thought.

Thinking she will be an easy mark, the weapon dealer returned to his customer, smiling. "Sorry to hold you up," he said, looking at back of the pink hair noble. She turned around to meet him, and he presented her with a large golden broadsword. "It's the best one in the store. It was made by Germania's mage-alchemist, Sir Spee." he boasted. While he explained the greatness of his sword, the shop keeper kept a mindful of the noble's servant, seeing if he really was an idiot. He was rewarded with a fairly amusing sight when the servant picked the cat only to have it jumped out of his hands and landed near one of the wooden barrels containing some old weapons. Such scene reaffirmed his initial believes. He soon lost interest keeping watch of this foolish servant and focused his attention on the foolish noble instead. "This blade will slice steel right in half!"

"Really?! How much?"

'_Heh, I got her now,'_ he thought excitingly. "It will be three thousand New Gold," the shop keeper said confidently.

"What?! You can buy a well-made house with a forest for a yard at that price!"

"A true sword has the worth of a castle. If it's only a house, it a good deal."

'_Damn it. I only bought a thousand with me,'_ Louise thought bitterly. "Is there a cheaper one?"

'_Tch, she's just a petty noble?'_ The man quickly lost his enthusiasm. "Most broadswords average for about two hundred, miss." And here he thought she was one of those wealthy spoiled nobles.

Sensing she had been looked down upon on, she replied, "Humph! Don't worry about that. I have a thousand with me." Her statement caused the merchant to smile once again, and he began showing her his other 'high-end' products.

"Yo, Louise." Zero waved at her to come, interrupting their negotiation.

"What is it?" she sneered at him but walked over to him nonetheless.

"Forget about those cheap ones and take a look at this," the reploid spoke, holding out a rusty looking sword one hand while cradling the cat with his other arm.

"You can't be serious. This thing is all rusted. If I let you walk around with this, I will-"

"Trust me, Louise, this one is much better in quality than anything else this place has to offer."

"But-"

"If you worry about its appearance, just get an impressive looking scabbard. It's not like I will need to draw it all that often," said Zero. When he saw she was still not all that convinced, he added, "Plus, it's a weapon for me, and I am a weapon expert. I know which one is best suited for me." Once again, Louise was unable to counter his argument. She was left speechless and openly glaring at him as he left her side and walked up to the counter where the shop keeper was. "We will settle for this one," he announced, bring up a rusty broadsword.

"Are you sure? I got all these other impressive looking weapons here," said the weapon dealer, "Look at this silver long sword." He presented a long sword to the blond servant, trying to salvage his sale. "It's light; it's strong; and it's only eight hundred new gold!"

"Nah, this one will do for me," Zero declined. While the silver blade was not as bad in over all quality compared with the other more 'questionable' ones, it was rather light and not as durable as the one he picked. Well, he never planned to use it as a normal sword anyway and durability was the only thing that he really needs...

Louise finally got over what he said and approached them. She didn't look too happy about his choice but didn't say a word. Zero spared her a glance. _'Yup, she's sulking,'_ he mused. "Get me a sturdy scabbard to go alone with this; a pretty looking one if possible." The owner wasn't very thrill either but went and got him a red scabbard that had golden design patterns and a few jewels imbedded on the side. "Nope, this one won't do. It's too thin and fragile."

When the man brought out a thick brown one, Louise glared at him and spoke, "No, it's too plain looking."

Grumbling, the man went back and began searching...

-z-z-

Louise stepped out of the weapon shop behind Zero. She kept staring at the weapon strapped behind Zero's back and frowned. She couldn't help but wondered if her familiar had made some kind of mistake. After much debates and nearly driving the shop keeper nuts, they had compromised on a white scabbard with silver design patterns and a golden round tip to go along with his rusted broadsword. Even so, her doubt on the weapon he choose had only grew after learning the scabbard cost far more than the sword itself. "Maybe we should come back later and get that golden sword. It's only two thousand or so more new gold," said Louise, voicing her thought. It will cost her quite a fortune, but it's all worth it if-

"Ah, that one? Heh, don't bother, Louise. This one is better. Its structural integrity was far superior."

"Struct-integ, what?"

"Structural integrity," he slowly repeated for her and laughed. She glared; and he explained, smirking, "What I am trying to say is I rather have a weapon that won't break when used."

"But that one was magically enhanced-"

"Perhaps, but I rather believes in what I saw, and what I saw was a poor quality blade that was so fragile that it will shatter the moment it hits something."

She stared at him, frowning. Obviously, she didn't agree. Any magically enhanced weapon should always be superior to those that aren't. But then again, she was a novice with weapons and he was a seasoned soldier, so she would have to take his word for it. Plus, the main reason she wanted to buy him a sword in the first place was to increase their master/servant bonding, to show herself as a generous master. If he was more satisfy with a cheaper sword, then that's the way to go. Still, the broadsword he picked was quite an eyesore. Even if the scabbard was passable, the sword's ugliness still seeped through. Seriously, something needed to be done with that the rusty looking sword handle or else...

"Relax Louise, I'll wrapped it up with a white cloth later," came his reassuring voice, almost as if he had read her mind. Then he smiled and teasingly whispered, "No one will notice."

She glared at him. "Humph! Where did you find this thing anyway?"

"Hmm? Well, it was all thanks to this little guy," said Zero, staring at the little bundle of fur he was holding. "If it weren't for him jumping onto one of those barrels containing old weapons, I would never have notice this fine blade." At that point, the cat suddenly perked up, looked around, and meowed. Then it jumped out of Zero's arm and chased after whatever that had gotten its interest. It soon disappeared in the busy street of the capital.

Louise observed her familiar's expression as the cat disappears. For a brief split second, she thought he looked regrettable that the cat left. When she took a closer look however, his expression was just blank with a speck of humor in his eyes like always.

-z-z-

At about the same time Louise and Zero left shopping districts, a dark skin red haired beauty and her blue haired friend entered that very same weapon shop...

* * *

Osmond arrived to the scene just in time to see the last of the students was being freed from a pole that he was tied on to. The student was stripped naked and gagged. He had a basket strapped around his lower region, covering his private part. Whoever had done this was clearly looking for maximum humiliation...

Headmaster Osmond looked around the scene - an area where maids do laundries. A number of maids were standing around talking among themselves, giggling. A number of teachers had gathered around and discussed among themselves. Another one was questioning the now freed students who were wrapped up in towels. Whatever answers they gave were not very coherent at this point, with two of them staying silent and the other three muttering some kind of a demon or so. Deciding he needed to step in before things spin out of control, the headmaster spoke authoritatively, "Will someone please tell me what is going on here?"

...

...

...

Knowing that he had to keep this under wrapped, Osmond sent the boys away as soon as possible, citing that they needed rest and that he would 'question them' later. He then brought everyone who saw the incident to his office and questioned each individual. He didn't learn much aside from that it was a maid who discovered the students or that they had a bucket over their head when she first found them. After he finished questioning them, he superimposed his authority over everyone present, telling them not to speak of such matter to anyone. Then he sent everyone away, except Colbert. He knew the silent measure was probably not going to last long, but he needed to buy as much time as possible to sort this out and slipped into deep thoughts...

Osmond sat inside his office facing Colbert who stood across a desk away. They were alone. After silently standing in front of the headmaster for a few minutes, Colbert decided to break the uneasy silence and spoke, "Headmaster?"

Colbert's voice snapped the headmaster back from his thoughts and he spoke, "Hmm...where was Miss Vallière's familiar?"

"I am very sorry, Headmaster. I do not know where he is right now."

"Hmm...This could be troublesome." Osmond narrowed his eyes; his mind began shaping up different scenarios.

"Headmaster, do you believe Miss Vallière's familiar was behind the students' attack?"

"At this point, I simply cannot rule out anyone. You did say he had issues with a number of students right? Mister, err...Mister...?" the old headmaster began scratching his head. The name was just off his lips, but he just cannot seem to quite get it.

"...It's Colbert, Jean Colbert. You forgot? Again?"

"Right, right. It's just the last few days were rather rough for an old man like me..." The old headmaster's mind began slipping back to the horrific events of the past few days, filled with 'terrifying maids'.

"...Headmaster? Headmaster Osmond?"

Colbert's voice had once again snapped Osmond out of his reminiscent. "Professor Colbert, I am going to put you in charge of investigating this incident."

"Sir?"

"Students being attacked inside our academy is a serious matter, Professor Colbert. We simply cannot afford to wait around and do nothing. People may become suspicious and lose confident in us." The headmaster waited until Colbert nodded before he spoke again, revealing his true intention, "However, as serious as that may be, we may have an even bigger problem sitting right beside us."

"...Headmaster?"

Osmond elaborated, "The past few days I have been doing research with an acquaintance of mine on those strange letters appearing on Miss Vallière's familiar," he paused and touched his beard, looking at Colbert. Once he made sure he got the professor's attention, he withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket and pointed at the symbols written there. "Hakai no Kami: ...the God of Destruction."

It took Colbert a few seconds for what he heard to sink in. When it finally did, his eyes widened and mouth began shaking. "...G-God of Destruction!? Y-you mean she summoned a god?!" And not just any god but one who specialized in destructions of all things! And here he thought he was dealing with a square-mage level familiar, which would be considered incredibly tough by any standard already...

Understandably, Colbert was shaken, but then, memories of the familiar's conducts for the past few days surfaced. The gentleman he saw did not resembled anything as terrifying as that. "Per-perhaps we are just jumping into a conclusion here. I-I mean I have followed him for the past few days and he had never acted anything out of the ordinary," Colbert voiced his thought, wanting to believe in what he saw and not the suggestion he got.

"Right now, it's just a mere speculation, Colbert, but you had seen the way he fought. That was by no mean ordinary..." Osmond observed Colbert. When the other man kept his silence, the headmaster spoke, "And this is why I wanted you to handle this. I do not wish to invoke suspicion from others, but I also do not wish for a confrontation with this familiar; at least not until we know what he is capable of or what his intentions are."

Both men understood the extreme challenges and grave dangers they faced. Students from the academy had been attacked. If they handle this incorrectly, there could be a strong political backlash. That in itself was bad enough; however, Louise's familiar may pose an even greater threat. If he really was what the runes claimed him to be, they certainly don't want a confrontation or even risk pissing him off. They had a sneak peek at what the familiar could do and knew how dangerous he could be. One wrong move and everyone in the academy could be in grave danger...

...

...

...

The one on one discussion with the headmaster was almost concluded, and Colbert was left with an antagonizing thought. He was curious. Just who was behind the translation? He wanted to know and so he asked, "By the way, Headmaster Osmond, who was this acquaintance of yours?" He wanted to know how much trust he should put toward such person. Really, it was not that he didn't believe the headmaster, but to claim Louise had summoned some sort of a god was a bit too much. Perhaps they had somehow gotten the translation wrong...

"It was Duke Everlue," said the headmaster. He sounded calm, but if one was to look closer, one would find the old mage's face appearing somewhat pale.

"Duke Everlue? You mean The Duke Everlue; the great linguist sage who proclaims to know all runes and languages in the known universe?" asked Colbert, never realizing the discomfort the headmaster was displaying... He had heard of the genius of Duke Everlue. The reputation of the Duke among scholars was legendary. It wouldn't surprise him that the Duke really does know every language in the universe. Having such reputable person looking into the runes made Colbert less skeptical of the result.

"Yes," Old Osmond answered simply. Of course the Duke himself didn't know every language there was or else it would not have taken him three days to solve those letters. It's just the man was really smart and knowledgeable with deciphering codes and languages. Even so, the strange letters on the familiar's runes were too small of a sample, and it had took him three days to figure it out or part of it out - 'Z Ω W MKII' was still a mystery to them. And that translated to three days of 'living hell' for the old headmaster. Bad memories were beginning to resurface but Osmond forced it out of his mind by sheer will. He was no longer inside that mad house anymore, he reminded himself...

"Isn't he a shut-in that doesn't go out much? I heard he had quite a unique temper?" asked Colbert, wanting to learn more about his idol.

"Yes he was, and yes he does," he answered absentmindedly, his mind still reeling from his ordeal with those '_monsters_' (maids). Seriously, the Duke not only does not control his maids' behavior, he encourages them. And worse, if anyone disrespected or mistreated his maids, he would go crazy and labels the offender an enemy of his...

"Hmm, I heard he had a unique taste in women..."

And that did it. Colbert's comment had broken whatever mental barrier Osmond had managed to set up, forcing him to remember all the 'horrors' he faced back there and he reacted. Grabbing Colbert by his collar and pulling him close, the headmaster screamed, "It's not unique! It's twisted! Twisted, you hear me?! TWISTED!" Like a madman, he started sprouting out nonsense about some three hundred pound maid - or maids - while violently shaking the other mage...

* * *

It was afternoon by the time Zero and Louise finally arrived back at the academy. It was a tiring day for the girl and so she headed straight for her dorm. Zero, however, said he had something else to do and left her side. Normally, Louise would protest his behavior and let him know that he was suppose to accompany her, but she was too tire to do so this time and let it be. She doesn't need him anyway...

One her way to her dorm, she heard rumors spreading by some commoner maids that there had been an attack on students inside the academy. She rolled her eyes at their ludicrous story. This is Tristain Magic Academy. Who could accomplish such a feat...

-z-z-

Zero set out to tie some loose ends. He knew the boys would be discovered by now, and there are two possible scenarios that could be played out. The first one would be that the boys had told the staffs who attacked them the night before. Judging from what he saw when he arrived back on academy ground however, this was not likely. If the boys had leaked such information, there would be staff members waiting outside the academy entrance, ready to take them in as soon as they show up. Well, if that was the case, he would act stupid and deny everything. After all, he's just a commoner. How could he possibly take on five mages all at once? Such amusing thought cause Zero to smile slightly. Anyways, since he didn't sense any disturbance, it's safe to say the boys were smart enough to not give out his identity. That would work out even better for him, because all he had to do then was to make sure they stayed silent. Anyway, finding the boys and assessing the situation would be the appropriate course of action for now, he thought.

It did not take long for Zero to find them. All five of them were sitting at some round table located at the 'Vestry Courtyard'. Apparently, they were having a little 'group discussion' among themselves. Well, without doubt, they were probably talking about him or what they were going to do next. Zero nearly laughed. He decided to join in on their conversation and slipped right next to them...

"Hello boys, mind if I join in on your conversations?" The looks of surprise and fear on the boys' face at hearing Zero's voice amused him to no end. Regardless, he was already behind and in between both Pelission and Styx. An arm had already been draped around each of the two line mages' shoulder before they even realized it happening. The other three lesser mages jumped up from their sits a fraction of a second later and was prepared to make a break for it. Seeing that, Zero glared at them and said, "Please, you three; sit back down, will you? We didn't want to cause a scene here, now do we?" Maybe it the low and dangerous tone he used or perhaps it was his bone chilling glare. Whichever it was, they got the message and nervously took their sits.

Once they took their sits, Zero spoke, "Now then, what were you boys discussing again?" He smiled cruelly and waited for their response. When nothing came, he spoke, "Nothing huh? Well, I suppose I could tell you about my ordeal first. You see, after what happened last night, Louise decided to buy me a weapon so that I could '_protect_' myself. And so, this morning..."

Over all, it was just a boring recollection of what he did earlier, and his tone was casual. Even so, the boys couldn't help but felt nervous. A few of them even broke into cold sweat when the hunter placed his newly brought weapon in the middle of the table. At that moment, the boys were wondering if Louise was mad. He was strong enough as he was without a weapon...

"...Well as you can see, it was quite a hassle and definitely not fun. What about you, boys? What did you do for the day?" asked the hunter as if he was asking about the weather. None of the boys responded, and a moment of heavy silence followed. "Hmm, no response huh? Well, how about this? Have anyone of you been talking about me to anyone?" He stared straight into each of their eyes, switching his intensive gaze from one student to another, watching them a like a hawk.

The pressure was too great for last mage and he whimpered out, "W-we didn't say anything about you. We-" He was quickly silenced by a glare from Styx.

Zero did not miss Styx's action but decided it wasn't important. He had what he came for and didn't wish to waste anymore time. "Well, that's good to hear," he said, smiling. But then, his smile started turning sinister as he added, "However, even if you did told them about me, nothing is going to change. After all, I am just a '_commoner_'. Right?" He laughed creepily as he studied their reaction. Satisfied, he was about to end their 'conversation', but then he remembered something important and said, "Oh, and one more thing. Please remember our promise and refrain from causing trouble for me or any of my friends in the future." He looked around the table, giving out a menacing glare, before chuckling, "Not unless of course you wish to wake up in worse conditions and places; or..." He stopped, intensified his glare, and turned toward Pelission, a chilling smile dominated his face. Then he turned toward Styx and gave him the same expression before cheerfully added, "...not waking up at all." Then he laughed as if it was a funny joke.

After that, Zero patted Pelission and Styx on the shoulder and took his weapon back. He then said his goodbye and slowly walked away.

A moment of heavy silence followed as the boys watched him walking away. None of them dared to speak while the familiar was still in sight. When he was finally out of sight, the three dot mages finally breathe a sigh of relieve and the two line mages relaxed a bit. While the familiar talked causally and sounded non-threatening or could even be considered friendly the whole time, his words were all venomous filled with menace. They felt like there was a dagger by their throats the entire time...

"W-what should we do now?" Manica asked, his voice filled with worries.

While Pelission stayed silent, Styx spoke his mind, "We will find a chance and strike back!" He may be afraid just like the rest of them, but he was also angry. He was utterly humiliated, and he will not live with it. He will have his revenge.

"But what if it didn't work? He is not a commoner!" Ajax spoke. "H-he may not even be human," he added, whispering and looking around nervously.

"Th-that's right, Styx. He's a..." Gimly jumped into the conversation while shifting his gaze all over the place. When he thought the coast was cleared, he finally whispered, "...'demon'."

"Silence! I will not live with such humiliation! I-"

"I do believe it's sometimes wise to heed your friends' advice, Mr. Styx." Zero appeared suddenly and, once again, stood behind the two line mages, causing them nearly petrified on the spot. The other three lesser mages were frozen in terror; one of them actually wetted his pant. "You know, playing it safe. After all, you never know what other...'bad things' might happen next if you don't." Satisfied with what he saw, he placed two golden crests, each with a five-point-star marking, on the table and said, "By the way, I believe these are yours."

All five mages immediately reach for their own crests near their neck. Styx and Pelission found theirs missing...

"And please refrain from doing stupid things, boys. I will always be watching," Zero whispered and grinned before leaving again - for real this time.

After the familiar left for a second time, the five students sat unmoving for nearly five minutes. They waited to see if the familiar was really gone this time. When they were sure he was no longer with them, they finally relaxed.

Regardless, they agreed with each other not to mess with Louise's familiar any more. They'll bite down their pride this time and go for other girls. Kirche was a beauty, but she's not worth losing their own lives for. After all, they weren't dealing with a mere commoner here, and the whole encounter they just had only reaffirmed that believe. They were dealing with a demon...

* * *

"What is the meaning of this, Zerbst?" Louise hissed, frowned, and glared at eternal rival. It was night time and she was in her room along with that troublesome familiar of hers. But then without warning, two uninvited 'guests' busted in unannounced. One of them was that red haired wretch, Kirche, who was eyeing her familiar like a piece of candy. Louise's guard was immediately sprung up the moment she saw her nemesis, and it had been fine tuned ever since. She will not let that harlot take anything that was hers. The other one was Tabitha, a quiet blue haired girl who was the top student in the academy. She was currently sitting on her bed reading a book. Louise doesn't understand how a top student like her could associate herself with that idiot, Zerbst.

"By coincidence, I found a sword that matches Zero, so I decided to give it to him," the red haired girl answered.

"Ha, so you acted like some stalker and followed us?"

Kirche ignored Louise's remarks and presented Zero her golden sword. "I was told that this is a great sword from Germania. I believe it suits perfectly for you, my darling." She then proceeded to kneel beside the familiar who sat near a wall and on the floor.

"Ha, that is too bad Zerbst, because he will choose mine over yours any day!" Louise declared proudly, pointing to the sword she brought. Her words or gesture had somehow gotten Kirche to stand back up and face her.

Sensing dangers ahead, Zero slowly began to edge away while their attention was focused at each other. As fun as it was to watch them going at each other, his 'survival instinct' was telling him that he was not safe and would soon get caught in their line of fire. That's not a situation he wanted to be in...

Kirche looked at Louise's sword and smiled, "Nonsense, it's obvious he choose that cheap excuse of a sword because you couldn't afford this one in the first place."

"W-what!" Louise glared at Kirche for making up such a lie.

"How pathetic. You can't even buy him a sword at such a cheap price?"

"You-" Louise glared fiercely, her face red.

"Humph, Germania is renowned for its swords and beautiful women. There's no way a Tristain girl like you could compared."

"Y-you!" She seemed to be at a lost of word at first but then she smiled wickedly, "Ha, look who's talking. You tried so hard to get my familiar's attention when he had already chose mine. Do you Germania whore know no shame? Oh wait, that's right. The reason you had to come study abroad was because you fooled around too much with the boys in Germania and couldn't get attention anymore, am I right? Humph, I knew I should have expected as such from the likes of you!"

Kirche narrowed her eyes, whipped out her wand and pointed it at Louise. "That was some nice choice of words coming from you, Vallière," she said; her voice low and dangerous.

Louise mirrored Kirche's action. "Oh but it's the truth, isn't it, Zerbst?" she replied haughtily, not backing down one bit.

Both girls' wands were suddenly lifted off their hands and tossed aside by an invisible force. The two girls looked to the source and found the blue haired girl looked up from her book with a staff in hand. She then said, "Indoor."

After glaring at one another some more, Kirche suggests, "Then, let's have Zero decide this."

They agreed and turned toward where the familiar was only to find him no longer there. Then they looked around and found him by the door with a hand on the doorknob. "Zero!" they both screamed and marched to him.

Slowly and silently, Zero had made his way to the door and was almost out of there, but then his name was heard and he knew he was spotted. He cursed his luck but turned around to face them. He was so close...

Louise and Kirche each grabbed hold onto his arms, dragged him to the center of the room, and began tugging him from opposite sides. "Tell her which one you choose!" they screamed in unison and never stopped tugging.

Just as he had predicted, this wasn't about really about the swords but the girls' own personal feud and he was now in the line of their fire. Just one look at them and he knew no matter what he choose, the end result won't be pretty for him. And so he tried something else instead. "Er...Now, both of you please stay calm. Er, I mean they are both good swords in their own, um, unique ways so-"

Not getting the answer they wanted, the girls shoved Zero to the side and began glaring at each other once again.

"This is a good opportunity, so I'll tell you now. You see, I hate you."

"Haha, what a coincidence. The feeling is mutual!"

The two girls glared each other for a couple of seconds and then declared, "Let's duel!"

Just as Zero thought the chaos would not end until the next apocalypse comes around, someone nearby - or thing - spoke up, "Hey, shut up, you idiotic women!"

"Idiotic-"

"-women?"

Both girls turned their murderous eyes at Zero. _'This is bad...'_ he thought. It was clear to the reploid that their taunts had pushed their sanity way past the breaking point. They were ready to blow and that comment had redirected their barrels straight toward him. Hell has no fury like a woman's scorn; and as fun as it was to see them bickering among themselves, he wanted nothing to do with them when their murderous aura was directed toward him. And so Zero did the only thing he could think of to safe his own skin. He raised both of his hands, urging them to stay calm while slowly backing away, and squeaked, "It wasn't me." Urgent as he was, he didn't even have time to figure out where that voice came from.

The two girls were unrelenting in giving Zero death glares. But luckily for him, Tabitha spoke, "Sword."

Truth to the quiet girl's word, the ancient blade spoke once again, "Shit! Disturbing my sleep! You there, you with that long blond hair. Are you my new user? Humph...you looked a lot more promising than my last user."

"..." Zero stared at his handpicked sword in mild surprise. _'...so swords can talk on their own in this world...'_

"Isn't that an Intelligent Sword, one that has a mind of its own? You really brought some strange thing, Louise."

"I didn't pick this. And if I knew, I would have brought something else. It's creepy."

'_Wow, they actually agreed on something,'_ thought Zero, somewhat amused. _'Well, at least they are not arguing with each other. Now, what to do with this talking blade...'_

"What year is it now? And where is this place? Answer me, damn it!"

After listening to the confused sentinel sword, he decided to keep this thing like he originally planned. What's more, the girls seemed to have come back to their senses, and so now was the best time for him to speak his mind, and he promptly did. "I'll keep this one." There were some groans from the girls after his announcement but he ignored them. He then turned to the sword and said, "I am Zero."

"I am Derflinger. Nice to meet you, Bro."

Seeing Zero happily choose Louise's weird sword, Kirche backed down. That thing may have been old and plain looking but it was a rare find, she had to admit. Her own blade may be pretty and more useful, but it couldn't compare in terms of rarity. It was a shame that she had brought such a pretty looking sword but now had no one to use it. Well, then again, with her 'charm', it had only cost her some pocket change so it was not a big deal. More importantly, she now had to think of something else to get the familiar's attention. Still, it was getting late and so she decided to retreat and find another way later. She's not giving up yet!

With Kirche backing down, the issue seemed to be settled, but Louise didn't exactly felt any better as she groaned to herself, "Why do all these weird things flock to me?"

And with that, the 'night of chaos' began to die down as the two 'uninvited guests' left a short while later, leaving Louise alone with her familiar and his new talking sword.

Chapter End

* * *

AN: Now that I think about it, f**king can be use with something positive like 'f**king awesome'. So, my bad filtering system, although I prefer not seeing them at all…

I am putting this in parody category because that's what it is - a parody of Saito's adventures.

There are 2 reasons why Louise appeared so willing to spend. 1) Zero is more competent than Saito and she wanted the improve relation. 2) She had the money to spend because she didn't have to buy expensive healing potion for Zero after Guiche's fight.

Osmond's screwing originates from one line in chapter 5 where he said he needed to meet someone. That line was used to show he had deep concern (unlike with Saito). The question then became who. Zero came to mind but the headmaster lacked leverage to make him talk so an OC was used. Long story short, he got screwed. 2 reasons that happened - 1) It's a good opportunity. 2) If meeting was easy, he would have had done it earlier. Duke Everlue and his maids were ripped off from Fairy Tail episode 3.

Styx's group was originally to be found in garbage dump but too many issues arise with that and got changed. Students attacked inside the academy is a plot hole I don't know how to fix. The only option so far was to have Osmond stall and hope everyone forget. Not very realistic considered so many were involved (Osmond, Colbert, Chevreuse, at least 2 random maids, at least 2 random teachers, and five victims).

Replies:

: Yup, definitely slow. Guilty as charged. I had many side quests and easily get sidetracked. But many must be done at certain time, and I like those side quests so…

ArcherShirou: Aw, where would the fun be if Louise doesn't treat him like one? Not to mention, most of the jokes were on her anyway. LOL

serialkeller: Well, but that is exactly the point. LOL Throw him in and see how it goes. And of course he only handles them moderately better. This isn't someone who is great at dealing with others. Plus, if the hero does not struggle, it will be boring. I am not sure what you are looking for; but if you are in for huge plot changes, lots of fight scenes, or the hero thoughtlessly steamroll everyone, you are in for a disappointment.

pltrgst: Sometimes, I felt like I am not writing Zero…But then, I realize I _am_ not writing Zero. I am writing different 'masks' a hero wore for different situations; hence why I said this was base on scenarios. Zero was used mostly because he has the potential to behave this way. Unlike normal heroes, this one was portrait as a 3rd rated spy with something to hide so a zigzag personality is acceptable. And for the most part, it runs ok. It's when contradictions like Zero said he would screw Louise a little less and didn't follow through or bumpy transitions like the final section in this chapter that became a problem. However, those are not easy to fix…

LL: Actually, too bad for most of the Megaman cast. They won't be here due to lack of roles for them. As for Louise's resolve, it's actually a side quest opener to throw in crazy ideas subduing her familiar. Currently in store: love potion.

ManaZero: Haven't thought of season 2 too much, but your suggestions fit very well with what I had in mind. Infiltration missions are definitely the way to go. With regard to 'Lexington': 1) Infiltrate pre-battle and sabotage it so I don't have to deal with it. 2) Infiltrate in-battle and destroy it from within. 3) Encounter it in a later battle and hijack it. 4) A combination of 1, 2 and 3 with 2 being some other ship(s). What do you think? But regardless, it will be a long time before I get there…

Gojira Geek: Hmm…I don't think you are talking about Omega from Z3. None of his combat abilities are very useful unless massacring everything is the aim. He had a personality of destruction and so you definitely don't want him controlling Zero's body, not even for a second. Just imagine what would happen if he suddenly decided to punch the ground and pillars of light erupt around him. 0_o 'Voices in his head' amounts to kill-kill-kill or "I am the messiah". XD So in conclusion, you are probably not talking about Omega from Z3, but original Zero from X series. I don't oppose to taking some of his abilities, but taking his personality onboard is a tough one. 'Zero The Soul of a Hero' demonstrated some of the best ways to do what you described, but the requirement(s) to replicate those scenarios were missing here. There's no good place to insert them. Namely, a desperate situation/emergency, but who in FoZ could create a crisis that the current Zero cannot handle? 'Voices in his head' serves 2 functions – an extra pair of eyes and someone to talk to. Unfortunately, Derflinger already took that job. There's one last place to insert such idea: the runes. Abilities grab? Definitely. Add in some nasty side effects? Maybe. Personality wise… Original Zero as that 'pair of eyes' is a good idea, but I am not sure if he's worth the trouble. An epic fight? …Plot-less but doable so…maybe?

Quadredurudoubleslash2 &amp; Suzululu4moe: Yup &amp; HAHAHAHAHA

Anyway, that's it for now.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8: Of Unicorns, Modern Magic, &amp; A Lady Thief

It was another bright sunny day at Tristain Magic Academy, and Zero was currently helping a young common maid hanging bed sheets to dry under the sun. "Siesta, could I ask you for a favor?" he asked when he's done hanging and securing the last sheet on a rope.

"Hm? What is it, Zero-san?"

"The familiar exhibition is coming up soon and I was wondering if you could help me."

"I am just a common maid, Zero-san. How could I possibly help you?"

"Aw, don't sell yourself short, Siesta. You could be an amazing helper," he said. Siesta stared at him, slightly embarrassed but not very convinced. He smiled and continued, "You see, I know a number of tricks I could perform but I needed a partner to help me."

"Why didn't asked for Miss Louise to help you?" Siesta asked. She didn't understand. Miss Louise is his master. Surely, she would aid her familiar to perform anything he wishes.

"Er, I don't think she would appreciate um, these...'_skills_' of mine," Zero replied.

His reply cause Siesta to look at him quizzically, but she decided not to question further. He's her friend, and she had grown to trust him. "Um, alright Zero-san, what should I do?"

"Thank you Siesta, but before that, do you know any good carpenters around here? I may need one to craft a few things for me."

"I do," she answered, "but what exactly were we going to do for the exhibition?"

"Why, that would be 'magic' of course," answered Zero cheerily which cause Siesta stare at him in disbelieve.

-z-z-

A few days later, Siesta stood by Zero as he performed his tricks. She looked trouble, and so he asked, "What's wrong, Siesta."

"Will this work? Will they believe us?"

"Sure they will; as long as we did our best, they will be in awe," said the reploid, sounding very confident.

"But this is not really magic. Isn't that lying? What if they find out?"

"Don't worry about it, Siesta. It will be fine."

* * *

Two days before the exhibition, students of Tristain Magic Academy were lining up in the front courtyard to receive their honored guests. Zero, being human enough, managed to slipped in; not that he really wanted to. For some reasons unknown to him, Louise was adamant on having him by her side at all times for the day; and the next couple of days too as she instructed him earlier. Not that he cared, but he suspected that she wanted to keep a close eye on him so that he wouldn't do anything stupid and ruin her reputation now that important people had arrived at the academy...

"Entering is the princess of Tristain; Her Highness, Henrietta!"

A young girl with purple hair stepped out of a fancy chariot and the crowd cheered wildly. Zero glanced at the girl and yes he did find her pretty; however, he was more interest in the creatures that towed her ride...

"How lovely," said Guiche nearby.

"Hmm..." Zero looked at the princess's general direction, appearing deep in thought.

See the concentrated gaze Zero was having, Kirche frowned. "That is the princess of Tristain? I am better-looking than her," she declared, trying to grab his attention. When that doesn't work, she wrapped her arms onto Zero's and ask directly, "Don't you agree, darling?"

Hearing that, Louise, who had been dazed, snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her nemesis. Seeing her arch-rival's hands all over her familiar, Louise was seeing red. "Get your hands off my familiar, you shameless woman!" she hissed venomously at her. When Kirche ignored her, she narrowed her eyes and added, "Humph, there is no way you could ever compare with Her Highness's beauty."

"I am not asking for your opinion, Louise," said Kirche. She then put on a sultry smile, turned back to her Zero, and asked, "What do you think, Zero?"

"Ha, there's no way he would agree with you," declared Louise. She then turned to her familiar and glared at him, daring him to disagree with her, before saying, "Right?"

Louise was practically trying to intimidate an answer out of him, and he found her behavior to be very amusing. _'At least Kirche was a lot more 'subtle'...'_ he thought. Still, he had no interest in upsetting the ladies and spoke what was in his mind instead. "Are those really unicorns? Or did they just glue on some horns?"

Louise stared at Zero incredulously for a few seconds before tracing his gaze one more time, more carefully this time. She found her familiar's gaze was indeed looking at the unicorns and not the princess. _'That's what he had been staring at this whole time?'_ she thought. She was speechless. "...Zero, you are so weird," she said finally, voicing her thought.

Kirche did the same with Zero's gaze. Her line of thought was not so much different from Louise. "Darling, you are so funny," Kirche said, wrapping her arms around his and rest her head on his shoulder. Unlike Louise, however, she felt it's better to praise him for his uniqueness and score some points. Not to mention the fact he was not ogling the princess can only be a plus for her so she had nothing to complain about.

The welcoming ceremony continued on peacefully afterward; or appeared as peaceful as it could be anyway when Louise and Kirche were bickering in the background the whole time...

* * *

It took Louise quite a bit of effort to shake off that whore, Zerbst, away from her familiar, but she finally managed to do that. She's currently in a relatively remote corner of the academy alone with her familiar and some random maid. "Zero, I have waited long enough! The exhibition is in two days and I demand you show me your progress!" She had enough of his sorry excuses. She cannot afford to be kept in the dark by her damnable familiar any longer, not when so many people will be watching, not when the princess will be there to watch... Humph! She's determined to find out his plan and she would not take 'no' for an answer this time! The pink hair girl glared at her familiar like a tiger ready to pounce.

Her familiar had this bemused looked on his face which really gets on her nerve. The maid, however, was somewhat afraid and clinched behind him. "Zero-san..." she muttered.

"It's okay, Siesta," said Zero. "Let's show her what we have been practicing."

Siesta nodded, and they led Louise to a room where they store their 'gears' for the upcoming show.

Once they arrived, Zero put on some sort of cape and soon began his performance. The maid acted as some sort of assistant. He began by pulling a red rose seemingly out of thin air. Then the maid came carrying a burning candle. Like an idiot, her familiar swung his arm to the side toward the oncoming maid, lighting his rose on fire. The flower burned quickly and her familiar put out the flame just as fast. Somehow, he was now holding onto a banana instead of the flower and tossed it to her. She examines the fruit. It was real. _'How did he do that?'_ she thought. She was somewhat impressed.

While Louise was distracted with her own thought, Zero and Siesta went and set up their next act. They used curtain to cover their set up. When they were done and the curtain was removed, a table with shaky legs was set up. Zero had a wand in one hand and began chanting some nonsense while Siesta climb on top of the table and lie down. The reploid cover the maid with a blanket and then suddenly remove the legs on one side of the table. Amazingly, the table did not collapse and Siesta was still comfortably lying on the table. He went and removed the legs from the other side.

To Louise, the maid and the table were suspended in midair. It looked to her like some sort of levitation spell, but she sensed no magic. She knew all kinds of chants for levitation type spells and what her familiar chanted was not one of them. In fact, it was utter nonsense, containing no known spell contents or structures. And yet... "How did you do that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice stern. She was somewhat excited at his ability of course, but she didn't want him to know how she felt. She had dealt with him too many times before and she just knew he would not miss any chance to tease her. Yup, her familiar tends to do that a lot, so speaking her mind openly around him is never a good idea...

"It's magic," he answered happily. She glared at him. He sighed and proceeds to explain...

...

...

...

"But that is not magic. That is cheating!"

"Heheh. Calm down Louise; this 'is' magic. It's call 'modern magic'," Zero replied happily.

His attitude irritated Louise, and she frowned. "There will be many mages watching, Zero; there's no way you could fool them like this! Why don't you just show them your sword skills?"

"Heheh, you are a mage, and I fooled you." Zero winked at Louise, and she glared at him. "Besides, this is an exhibition show for entertainment purposes. What we are doing here is a lot more appropriate than some random swordplay."

"But-" Louise voicing her objection, but was interrupted.

"Random swordplay without an adequate opponent will only bore the audience as many wouldn't know what a good move looks like." Zero then place both hands on Louise's shoulders, stared into her eyes and said, "Don't worry, Louise. Siesta and I will put them in awe."

Louise glared at her familiar's happy attitude. She wasn't a hundred percent convinced, but she was quite impressed by their earlier displays. Although some parts of her still wanted him to showoff his swordsmanship instead, but she knew her familiar. When he decided to do things his way, it's very hard to convince him otherwise. Screaming at him wouldn't work either...

Siesta watched Zero and Louise's exchange a few feet away. Timidly, she approached her friend and tugged at his wrist. He turned his head to look at her, and she softly spoke her opinion, "I think Miss Louise is right, Zero-san. There will be many mages watching. Maybe it's better off you demonstrate your sword skills instead."

Zero turned around, leaving Louise to her own thoughts, and addressed the maid, "Trust me, Siesta. This is the better way; and as long as we did our best, we should be fine. They wouldn't notice a thing; especially since they are not expecting much from us. Let's show them a commoner's way of doing things!"

Still a bit unsure, but the maid nodded nonetheless and returned to her own practice.

"Where had you learn these tricks anyway," said Louise, frowning.

"Hmm?" Zero turned his attention back to his pink haired 'master' and began to think. A few seconds later, he answered, "Mm, there was once a sweet young girl in 'my village' and her birthday was near. She was very hard working and helped everyone in the 'village'. In celebration of her birthday, we decided to put on a show for her and I was chosen by a 'master magician' as a helper."

Louise frowned at his answer. _'He is playing games with me again!'_ she thought bitterly.

"Zero-san, I am ready for the next act!"

"I will be right there, Siesta," he shouted back then turned to Louise. "Relax and just enjoy the show, Louise," he said before heading to the maid.

Louise was left watching their performance with mix feelings.

* * *

It was night time and Louise, dressed in her usual pink nightgown and sitting on her bed, was alone with her familiar again. "Remember what I told you before. You are to stay by me tomorrow at all times," said the pink hair girl as she stared at her familiar. "And no funny business!" she warned. "Now that many important people had come, if you disrespect any of them, we will both be in trouble," she added.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, my lord," Zero replied unenthusiastically to which she humph-ed. Well, he did suspect as such.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Zero rose up from his sitting position and approached the door.

"Go get the door," she barked at him, frowning. He turned his head and gave her a weird-look but she ignored him. "Who is it this late?" she muttered to herself, never changing her expression.

Zero sighed, shook his head and opened the door. A figure in cloak stood. He didn't sense any ill intent nor detect hidden weapons and so he smiled. "Who are you looking for?" he asked politely - as if it was the most sensible things to say.

Instead of answering, the cloaked figure slipped into the room and quickly closes the door while Zero watched curiously. Louise, however, was not reacting as calm as her familiar. On reflex, she pulled out her wand and pointed at the intruder. "W-who are you?" she asked with panic in her voice.

"It's been a while," the figure said, then removed her cloak which revealed to be the purple haired princess. "Louise Françoise," she exclaimed and quickly wrapped herself around the pink haired girl in a tight embrace.

"Y-Your Highness!"

"Louise. Oh, Louise. I missed you Louise," the princess said, still hugging the stunned Louise.

Snapping back to herself, Louise began gently push the princess to arms length before kneeling down humbly. "You mustn't, Your Highness. You shan't come to such a low class place on your own."

"Please stop the formality, Louise Françoise. We're friends," the princess pleaded, a sad smile on her face.

"Your kind words are too much for me, Your Highness," Louise replied, mirroring the princess's expression.

Zero observed their exchanges in a corner quietly. The princess was trying hard to rekindle their past friendship and Louise was stubbornly trying to push her away by making sorry excuses. Seeing they were going nowhere, he decided to act. "Just accept her 'kind words' for it already, Louise," said Zero cheerfully, breaking the awkward atmosphere his pink haired 'landlady' had un-wittedly created, and stunned them both.

Louise glared at her familiar almost immediately and marched over to him. "Shut up! You are in the presence of a royal! Show some respect!" she hissed. When he simply shrugged at her, she scowled and kicked him in the shin. He simply rolled his eyes at her childish behavior.

The princess can't help but chuckled at their amusing interaction. "You must be Zero, Louise's familiar. I had heard quite a few rumors of you."

"Ahh, and which ones would that be?" the hunter replied nonchalantly. The horrific expression displayed by Louise when he said that did not went unnoticed by him, and he had to try hard in order to keep a straight face.

"W-whatever you have heard, it-it's not true, Henrietta," came Louise's stuttered, automatic response. Ever since her familiar defeated Guiche, there had been rumors of him. They were generally positive rumors at first. However, over time, more and more bad ones popped up. These days he had been branded as either a demon from hell or a person who cause misfortunes. Positive rumors still existed but negative ones were much more prominent. If the princess heard the bad ones... Louise dare not venture further. She was in a state of panic. But then she somehow realized she made a mistake and quickly kneeled down, humbly bowed her head before the princess, and corrected herself. "I-I mean Y-Your Highness!"

With the way Louise was acting around the princess, Zero was beginning to think her general anxiety to keep him close came mostly from this purple haired princess. "Cut the formality, Louise. You are embarrassing yourself," Zero teased. Whatever it was, he's having fun playing with her regardless.

Louise stood up rapidly and pointed her finger accusingly at her accursed familiar. "You! You!" was all she managed to say. She's speechless and could only glare venomously at him. Then she turned back to the princess and gave her an apologetic look for his disrespectful behaviors. Then she went back and glared some more and... Poor Louise was torn between the two actions.

Satisfied that he had broke Louise's rhythm, got rid of that awkward atmosphere, and replaced it with a much more casual one, he decided to leave and give the girls some alone time with each other. "Okay, okay. You two need some time alone to sort this out. I get it. I shall leave." He winked at the girls, grabbed Derflinger and left the room quickly before Louise could come back to her senses. His presence would only make their heartwarming reunion awkward, he reasoned. Plus he had done what he could to help them break the ice; it's all up to them from this point on...

"C-come back here, you-" Louise screamed after her familiar as soon as she recovered, but he had already left.

The princess smiled. "Louise, you are still the fierce Louise I remembered," she chuckled.

"Henrietta, Y-Your Highness," uttered the pink hair girl, still fighting between her heart and her mind.

"Please, call me Henrietta. We are friends, remember?"

The princess's words finally broke through to her; and timidly, Louise replied, "H-Henrietta..."

"Oh I wanted to see you for so long, Louise. Ever since my father passed away..." The princess and Louise began talking about their own life experiences with each other...

* * *

After Zero left the two girls to themselves, he had been wandering around the academy and somehow came to the stable area. Since he saw no one around in the area, the reploid shrugged and decided to wander around here a bit and perhaps take a closer look those royal heeds.

The staple was an enclosed building with one entrance and several small windows. He pushed open the door and walked inside. It was big and dark inside with many pens housing many creatures. He found what he was looking for in the far back. The unicorns were resting inside their pen. The hunter jumped over the fence and walked up to the nearest unicorn. He proceeded to examine its horn a bit. "Hmm...they were real," he mumbled.

"What else were you expecting, partner?"

"...Erm, that they were glued on in order to make them appear more um...magical?" answered the reploid, somewhat unsure.

"Partner, you are a strange one."

"..." Zero glanced at the sentinel sword strapped on his back and rolled his eyes. _'...You are one to talk about strange...'_ Just then, Zero's sharp hearing pickup some footsteps outside. The reploid went to a nearby window and took a peek. Two armed guards were present by the exit. What's more; they seemed well discipline and highly trained, nothing like the usual ones around the academy. _'Royal guards,'_ he thought. Why they weren't there when he first sneaked in was beyond him, but he got himself into rather a dicey situation now. The windows were too small for him to get through and there was only one exit. He was trapped.

To make matters worse, a wolf like creature woke up and saw him. Startled, it started howling, causing quite a commotion among the many other creatures inside the staple. Thinking on his feet, the reploid grabbed a jar on a nearby table, jumped up high above the exit, and hanged up there.

The creatures' distress alerted the guards stationed outside. They rushed in with torches and hands on weapons, looking for intruders. They looked around the large room, occasionally squinting their eyes to see as far as they could into dark corners in the back - their torches simply not enough to illuminate the whole room. Suddenly they heard something broke in the far back of the room. They drew their weapons and rushed to the source only to find a broken jar on the ground near the wall. They turned everywhere and looked, but they couldn't find anything. They continued their search some more, but ultimately, no intruder was found...

-z-z-

A little distraction was all Zero needed to slip away undetected. Once he got fairly far and out of earshot, Derflinger suddenly spoke, "That was quite an impressive escape, partner." Then he added, "Although I must say, you really needed to tread more carefully next time." His remark was delivered with amusement in mind.

"What do you mean?" the reploid asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Just look down at your boots, bro."

The legendary reploid took the advice and looked. There's dung all over his boots. "Ugh crap..." he said. Zero spent the next couple of minutes cleaning his shoes. After that, he decided to head to his favorite spot and settled down, watching the tranquil night sky and/or meeting up with Tabitha. The blue haired silent girl, for whatever reasons, doesn't appear as much ever since that other night when Louise night when Louise branded him with a new nickname - which in turn cause him to stood her up that night. But then again, they didn't exactly promise one another that they would show up for sure...

* * *

It was the day of the exhibition. A large stage was setup in the middle of one of the courtyard inside the academy. Students and staff members were gathered and sat in front of the stage. A little to the side, a special tent was setup for the princess and the headmaster. Four powerful looking royal guards were standing beside the tent.

Colbert appeared in the center of the stage and began reading his script, "We will now start this year's familiar spirit exhibition." Cheers were heard from the students.

One after another, students showcased their familiar's talents. Salamander went with its fiery display. Then there was a frog doing a handstand or an owl flying around. Finally, Tabitha was seen riding on her dragon and flied around. Nonetheless, they all generated huge amount of excitements and cheers.

'_That's it? Seriously, they were excited by that?'_ Zero looked at them incredulously. He simply cannot understand what so impressive about an owl flying around or a frog doing gymnatics. Many of the displays he had seen served absolutely no purpose. Only few had practical use. _'Then again, a frog doing gymnastics is pretty impressive in its own...'unique sort of way'...'_

"Next up is Miss Louise de La Vallière."

Finally, it was Louise's turn to showcase her familiar. She, along with her familiar and the maid, walked up onto the stage. While she and her maid were dressed normally, her familiar decided to wear a large black cape and a ridiculous tall black hat. There were murmurs from across the audiences. Some seemed confused as to why a maid was with them. Others were making fun of her familiar's attire and snickered the whole time, fully expecting another spectacular failure. Louise, however, was just pissed at not being able to convince her familiar to change his performance. Her mood deteriorated further as she realized what many of the students wanted.

Bottling up her anger, Louise marched to the center of the stage and began introducing her damnable familiar. "This is my familiar. His class-" she stopped herself abruptly. She suddenly realized that she had no idea what class he belonged to. She had been so busy being mad at him for the past few days that she had completely forgot the contradiction he had now created for her. She had introduced her familiar as a knight before, but what he's about to perform had nothing to do with knights in general. What he's about to perform, his so call 'magic', was nothing more than just some cheap tricks. "His class is..." she said, trying to whack her brain with an appropriate class without embarrassing herself in the process.

Seeing how much Louise was struggling, Zero decided to introduce himself. "Hello everyone, my name is Zero. I am Louise's familiar, and today I am going to show you some 'magic'," he said enthusiastically. Even though he didn't exactly like the idea of being her familiar, that's what he is right now. There's simply no point in denying what he had already became. Plus, as far as he's concern, it's only a labeling. It's not like the whole familiar business affect him anyway. He may even be able to turn it to his advantage if he really needed to, he mused...

"Magic? Can he even do magic?"

"Yeah, I thought you said his class was a knight, Louise."

"That's right. What happen to him being a common knight?"

"I want to see some swordplay."

Louise immediately turned and glared at her familiar as if to say: 'I told you this was a bad idea!'

One look at Louise's expression and Zero could barely contain his laughter. Her mood seemed to have gone off a cliff before the show even begin, he mused. "Louise was telling you the truth; however, she didn't tell you everything. I am a 'magical knight' and I know 'magic' you never seen before," he declared, bringing back the term he used on the very first night he was here. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, without ado, I bring you 'modern magic'." He pulled out a wand hidden in his sleeve and began...

To start it off, Zero recited a few random chants and began pulling random objects from seemingly out of nowhere. He burned a number them in front of everyone only to transform them into something else. At times, he threw a few of those items to the audience - mostly fruits and other edible items, which were generally considered too complex for known spells to replicate. Meanwhile, Siesta played the role of an assistant. Most students could only stare and wondered how he did it. To the reploid, this was like taking candies from a baby. It was much easier to pull off than the first time he tried with the Resistance. Then again, if he could fool a reploid's vision back then, these humans stood no chance...

While Zero distracts the audience by making a number of metal rings disappear, Siesta was busy putting up curtains and getting ready for other acts. The midair suspension act was next; and it ran smoothly, even though his chant was all over the place, effectively making no sense at all. Actually, all of his chants made no sense what so ever... Regardless, the reploid's 'magic' managed to fool his audience, while Louise watched nervously the entire time.

Louise breathed a sigh of relieve when he was done and no one called out upon his fake magic. It was done and no one finds out. She was about to breakout into her happy dance but then...

"And now, it's time for the finale," Zero declared.

'_F-Finale!?'_ Louise thought as the word echoed across her mind and her heart skipped a beat. She nearly fainted from hearing that. She had seen him used every trick he had shown her before. She thought he had exhausted all his tricks already. Never did she think he had more tricks up his sleeve. Once again, she was biting her nails and watching on nervously.

On Zero's command, Siesta stepped into a box of some kind that she had set up earlier. Zero pulled a curtain over the front of the box. He then started chanting another spell - or just chaining together some random syllables. He spent a minute or so chanting and appeared totally concentrated. He finally pulled away the curtain and revealed the maid was no longer inside. He acted as if he didn't know where she went. But then after a few minutes of acting clueless, he pointed to the back of the audience.

A blond girl dressed in student uniform nervously stood up. She pulled off her wig, and revealed herself. There stood the maid, Siesta. She began walking back toward the stage. Once she went back to the stage, she along with Zero bowed to their audience.

It started off with a few claps, but soon the entire place applauded their performance. Seeing that, Louise breathed another sigh of relief. She had a feeling something would go wrong this time for sure. As she watched her familiar and the maid cleaning up, she began thinking that maybe her familiar deserved some credits for putting up a good show and not embarrass her in front of everyone. Her mood was getting brighter and brighter by the seconds until-

Crack

Somehow, the box that Zero used for his finale broke during its removal, revealing a trap door behind and a few 'suggestive items'. Immediately Zero moved in and tried to cover that with his black cloak. Coincidentally and during the process of using his cloak to cover his 'trade secret', a few previously unseen and well hidden pockets carrying a number of items he used during his earlier performance were exposed to the public. "Erm...you did not see that," he said, putting his hands out.

"Hey, what are those things doing there?"

"Yeah, I thought you said you sent those things to the great beyond earlier?"

"Yeah!"

Louise slapped her hand over her face. She just knew something like that was going to happen. She knew this was too good to be true. Somehow, her familiar had to find a way and make her life difficult if not miserable. Now all that's left was just one idiot stepping up and calling off his-

"Hahahahaha! I knew this was too good to be true. No commoner can use magic. You're just using some cheap tricks leading us to believe you are using magic. You are nothing but a fraud."

"Yeah, your so call 'modern magic' was just a scam!"

"And so what if it was. You were the ones who applauded these 'tricks' a minute ago," the reploid replied casually, not repenting at all.

"BOOO!"

"Liar!"

"Get that fraudster out of here!"

The legendary hunter watched the students' reaction. He sighed and shook his head. _'Looks like these people aren't ready for new things,'_ he thought, but then narrowed his eyes as he studied the crowd more carefully. It seemed there's a few 'selected idiots' among crowd who were determined to incite hatred against him, and they're all male...

The headmaster held his staff out, signaling Colbert. The professor nodded and went onto the stage. "Everyone, please settle down!" he bellowed. "Her Highness, Princess Henrietta, wish to speak!"

"Everyone, please do not judge Miss Louise's familiar harshly. He maybe a commoner and the magic he used maybe fake, but the performance he put up was genuine. I believed it was quite impressive that he was able to accomplish what he did despite not knowing magic. To come up with such interesting performance, I found it quite entertaining."

The princess's words seemed to have pacified the students as most had became unsure of what to think of Louise's familiar. The few trouble makers who started the mess sat quietly in their sits, fuming as they watched their 'love rival' got off easy. They had little choice but to do so, however, since a confrontation with the princess's preference - or the royal family by large - was not an option.

'_At least the princess is more open-minded on this matter,'_ Zero mused before responding, "Why, thank-" The reploid never got the chance to finish his thanks as he received an elbow to his side by an angry Louise. She gave him a brief murderous glare, signaling him to shut up, before moving pass him. He gave her his usual smug but complied.

Louise turned to the princess and bowed respectfully. "I thank Your Highness for defending my familiar's action. However, his behavior today was simply a disgrace so I shall go back and further educate him on proper etiquette," she said. Sensing her familiar was about to say something stupid in return, the pink haired girl stretched her arm up and grabbed hold onto his ear. She had enough of being embarrassed by him for the day. She desperately wanted avoid anymore embarrassment because of him. Nothing good will ever come from that 'foul mouth' of his, she concluded and tugged at his ear hard. "You, come with me!" she hissed harshly at him and proceeded to drag him away by his ear.

Zero eyed her amusingly but followed without complain. His nonchalant attitude seemed to have pissed her off even more as she started adding twists to his ear. Despite her many attempts, however, her abuse didn't have any affect on the reploid except further amusing him...

Siesta watched the two and nervously followed along.

* * *

In another part of the academy, a female in cloak had her hand by a huge wooden door, testing its magical resilient. "I didn't think it'd be this hard of a lock. Well then..."

"We'll now move onto the judging part of the contest!" was heard from the background.

'_Damn, I'm running out of time,'_ the cloak figure thought. She jumped to the middle of the field and summoned a huge rock creature. The large creature resembled a gnome; and by her order, the titan punched the tower she had been trying to get in. Incredibly, there seemed to have some kind of force field surrounding the tower, protecting it from harm. _'Tch, even physical damage is not enough...'_

_-z-z-_

"Why didn't you just show your sword skill instead!" whined Louise. She and her familiar plus the maid, Siesta, were walking down a hallway, away from the exhibition.

"Louise, deadly skills are not meant for showbiz or entertainments," lectured Zero. Louise gave him yet another murderous glare. It's obvious she didn't agree. Sensing her anger building up, the reploid tried shifting the angle a bit. "Besides they were impress weren't they? I believed the show was a success!"

"You called that a success?!" Louise exploded while Siesta tried sinking into the background, hoping to disappear or escape the pink haired noble's wrath.

"Well, it wasn't that bad," answered Zero. "I mean, if it weren't for that box breaking during the cleanup, nobody would have figure out the tricks." At this point, for some reasons, Siesta lower her head further and acted as if she wanted to dug a hole in the ground and hide. "But the performance itself was flawless," he defended.

Louise had stopped listening to her familiar's sorry excuses about half way. Instead, a dark thought started seeping into her mind: If she could just strangle him while he sleeps, maybe she could summon a replacement. _'No, no. That won't do,'_ she told herself. She's a competent mage! She's not going to murder her own familiar! No respectable mage would ever do something like that. Nope, she's going to make him recognize her as his rightful master and respect her like one, and she's not backing away from that challenge! Although...the thought of wrapping her little fingers around his throat and choking the life out of him brought her tremendous joy at the moment and she began picturing it while smiling...

The dark smiles Louise displayed caused Zero to feel a little uneasy...

Soon, the trio walked out of the corridor and came face to face with a huge rock creature. "Wow, whose familiar was that?" whistled Zero.

"T-that's not a familiar. That's a g-golem," came Louise's frantic response.

"Like Guiche's golems? Hmm...this one is a lot more impressive," came Zero's carefree comment. "What's it doing here?" he asked offhandedly.

Before Louise could answer, someone else did. "Looks like you're out of luck," declared a cloaked figure. Suddenly, the golems hand made an attempt to grab at the trio.

Acting quickly, Zero wrapped his arms around Louise and Siesta's waist and jumped backward. The golem grabbed nothing but air. Once the reploid felt they were at a safe distance and out of reach of the golem, he released the girls and said, "You girls should find some place safe and hide." Before Louise or Siesta could voice their opinion, Zero calmly walked back and faced the huge golem. "Now that was dangerous Miss Shrouded-in-Cloak. Why don't you stop what you are doing, come down here so we could talk and sort out these 'issues' of yours peacefully."

The voice he used was entirely carefree and unconcern, Siesta observed from around a corner. It was as if he saw no danger from that rock monster, she thought, half excited and half worried. Another look at that huge creature though, she was leaning more toward the worry side. How could he hope to stand up against that giant? _'Zero-san...'_

'_What the heck is he thinking!'_ thought Louise. She had expected him to run or hide alongside with her. Then they would try and contact the staff members somehow. And if they had to fight, she expected he would at least not be reckless and heed her command! Instead, that idiot just jumped out to the front and said the stupidest thing! Did he believe he could get off easy?! Guiche may have been easy for him but this is no Guiche. This is way beyond that of a dot mage!

Fouquet, the cloaked figure, was surprised and a little confused by Zero's action. When she had her golem attack the group and missed, she was a little worried that they would get away and alert others of her...'activities'. That would have made her job so much more difficult. But then the blond haired man chose to confront her instead and said the most ridiculous things while doing so. And the best thing yet was that his companions chose to stay behind, a failure of a mage and a common maid. This must be her lucky day, she thought and smiled. "Ahahaha, and if I don't?" she replied and directed her golem to grab him.

"Fireball!" bellowed Louise, her wand pointing at the cloaked woman. Instead of a fireball erupting from her wand, however, there was an explosion on the sidewall of the tower.

"How is that a fireball?" teased the cloaked woman.

"Louise, I thought I told you that that's dangerous. You really shouldn't attempt something like that without someone qualified enough to instruct you," Zero sighed, looking like an adult disappointed at a naughty child.

"Sh-shut up, it's only a little mistake," countered Louise with her head held high even if she did felt slightly embarrassed about it. "And what were you thinking rushing out like that! If it weren't for me, she would have make mincemeat out of you!" she said, going on the offense.

"I would have been fine, Louise," he replied casually. "And you should be hiding somewhere safe," he added.

"Humph! I cannot run away and hide! You are my familiar, and I am your master! It's my responsibility to stay and watch over you!"

While Louise and Zero were immersed in their 'conversation', Fouquet happened to looked at the wall to which Louise's spell struck earlier. Cracks were starting to form. "What was that magic?" she muttered to herself and began to ponder. As quickly as that happened though, she stopped herself and muttered, "Anyway, it's lucky for me." She quickly had her golem to punch at the tower's wall, creating a thunderous sound. Unable to withstand such a mighty punch, the cracked wall crumbled. Following that, the female thief hurried inside, searching for what she came for.

Zero narrowed his eyes and decided to act.

Meanwhile, Louise stopped yelling at her familiar and stared at the tower where a large gaping hole was present. Suddenly realizing the serious nature of the incident, she involuntarily took a step back. However, lessons taught by her mother years before kicked in and prevented her from freezing up.

The pink hair girl quickly analyzed the situation. The opponent before her was probably too strong for her and her familiar to take on. The loud noise created by that thief's golem must have alerted the rest of the academy. That meant she only had to stall help arrive. Stiffening her resolve, she issued her command, "Z-Zero, on my command-" She shifted her gaze to where she thought her familiar was only to find him nowhere in sight. "Zero?" the girl said, frantically searching for her familiar. She finally spotted him running up the very steep left arm of the giant golem. At this point, her eyes widen, her jaw dropped, and her mind went blank in complete and utter disbelieve...

When Fouquet jumped back to her golem and was preparing to leave, she was greeted by a blond haired man standing on the shoulder of her golem opposite side to her. _'How did he got up here?'_ she thought, slightly on guard.

"It's unbefitting for a lady like you to rob others, Miss. I suggest you drop what you stole. Perhaps that way, you could avoid some very unpleasant experience," said Zero while pointing at the two rectangular boxes she was carrying. For some odd reason, he got a strange nostalgic feeling coming from those boxes, but he quickly dismissed it and refocused his attention on the cloak figure.

Up-close, Fouquet managed to take a closer look at the blond hair man for the first time. Although she recognized this man was a familiar of a failure of a mage, what she saw alarmed her. From his relaxing form, calm voice, and dangerous soul-piercing glint in his eyes, she concluded this was no ordinary man; and she was very much set on edge.

Years of thievery, however, forced her to shake away her nervousness and quickly assess her situation. She already got what she came for, and the loud crashing sound created when her golem destroyed the tower wall must have alerted the rest of the academy. The man before her was not likely an opponent she could defeat easily, and she needed to make a quick escape. Acting quickly, she summoned four one-foot-thick rock walls to surround the familiar and jumped onto the hand of her golem. Without a moment of hesitation, she braced herself and had her golem catapult her over the academy walls.

Just as Fouquet cleared the academy wall, Zero broke out of his wall and was just in time to see the thief, wrapped in a detached hand of the golem, sailing through the air at great speed. _'Smart girl...'_ thought the reploid. He toyed with the idea of chasing after her but decided against it as it will draw too much attention. This wasn't really his problem after all. It's better to let the local authority dealing with it, he concluded while watching the thief disappearing from view.

Soon after, the golem the reploid was standing on started to fall apart, reducing itself to a pile of dirt. The reploid expertly jumped his way down between the rocks that had yet transformed into loose soil. He landed beside Louise a few seconds later. Not long after that, Tabitha, along with her dragon, came to the scene, flying over their heads.

At some point, Louise gotten over her shock and glared at her familiar. "What the heck were you thinking!" was the first thing coming out of her mouth.

* * *

"To manipulate such a large golem, she must have been a Triangle class mage," said Louise.

'_Hmm...So there's that much of a difference between a Triangle class and a lower class...'_ Zero thought and pocketed away the information as he observed his surrounding. It had been a few hours since the thief robbed the academy's vault; and the students of the academy were standing around the courtyard. The staffs, soldiers and royal guards were all doing their own security sweeps, with seemingly little to no coordination. It was like watching a chicken running around without its head. It was quite amusing.

"I'm so glad you are safe!"

Turning to the source of the voice, Zero found the princess of Tristain. Accompanying by a number of her guards, she rushed toward Louise as he watched silently.

Upon seeing the princess, Louise kneeled and bowed respectably and said, "Your Highness, I'm very sorry I wasn't able to stop the palace's treasure from being stolen." Zero, on the other hand, took a step backward and tried blending into the background.

"Don't worry about it. It isn't your responsibility, Louise Françoise," the princess replied.

"But-"

"Your Highness, please hurry," one of her guard urged.

"I must report this to the royal palace. We'll meet again soon, Louise," she promised. Then she shifted her gaze a bit and gave a quick smile to Zero. "...and Mr. Zero," she added.

The reploid raised his eyebrow but nodded. And here he thought he was doing so well blending to the surrounding and acted as inconspicuous as possible...

They watched as the princess of Tristain. Once she was out of sight, Louise spoke, sounding a bit worried, "I hope Her Highness won't be made responsible for this."

"Dont worry, Louise. She's a princess. She'll be fine," said the reploid, trying to ease her concerns.

Chapter End

* * *

AN: The chapter didn't exactly turn out what I thought it could be. Oh well…

Ok, so at this point, Louise thought Zero was about a line mage in strength. Reason being she hadn't really seen his moves (like most of the students). The only thing she had seen was his enhanced strength and/or defense (which she had no idea how strong exactly). The speed was beyond her comprehension and therefore disregarded because of her inexperience. She will gradually change her perception as he fought stronger mages.

The entire unicorn thing was just a joke. I never intended Zero to play ninja or step on poop. It just happened. And yes, he can hang on wall without sliding even with his current equipment potential and it _is_ canon. Anyone want to try figuring that out? Zero/Henrietta limited interaction is intentional and, most importantly, natural.

The modern magic thing was weird; probably because I just threw in some random bs together. An uneventful swordplay might have been better…oh well. If you haven't figured, Siesta was behind exposing the magic trick. The thief part went pretty much like the anime so that it can be setup for 'staff of destruction', which is a headache to write. You'll be lucky if I can get it done by next month…

On with replies:

: Don't like ZX that much…Anyway, the problem with more fights is with whom? Local adversaries are too weak for Zero. Most MM characters are too strong for Halkeginia. A cross-world conflict will end up overshadowing the weaker world.

Gojira Geek: Really, that Omega? Hmm, but he really had little to no personality. And a trigger happy monster has no place in Halkeginia. He will turn the place into a mass grave. 0_o Angst Omega doesn't really suit his style…

xbox432: Yeah, Louise is actually not that bad. She's just misunderstood by most people.

pltrgst: Hmm, if that's what you see in last chapter, I'll take that as a compliment more than a problem. LOL A unpredictable Zero is what I'm trying here (granted, there were problems of course…). And you got to see by now that he really is not taking anyone here seriously (most of the time), much like Osmond fooling around with Longueville, heheh. Same answer as last time: different situations, different personalities. It's a normal respond for many, especially if they have something to hide (and/or are very strong).

BluJuice: No one to fire unless you - or someone - volunteers. LOL

Krazyfanfiction1: Derf? Nothing much…I am going to have some fun with his pride. 0_o

That's about it. See you next time, whenever that is…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9: Staff(Stave) of Destruction &amp; A Lesson in Botany

'_What have I got myself into?'_ Zero thought. He was currently sitting inside a lecture hall with Kirche smiling sweetly on one side and Louise glaring madly on the other. No teacher was present as they were told to have self studies. With no one to watch over them, every student began doing their own thing. Few actually opted to study, and it had been like this for the past few days.

"This is a fruit from Germania, Zero," Kirche explained, smiling. "Ahh," she encouraged and was preparing to feed him.

"Argh! Stop messing around with my familiar!" Louise shouted, fed up with her 'nemesis'. Since they were having self studies and no teacher was present to watch over them, she figured that stupid Zerbst would sneak off somewhere and attempt to seduce her familiar behind her back. The whole reason she brought her familiar to class was to make sure that does not happen! Yet despite her best effort, that woman still managed to harass her familiar and in front of her no less! Seriously, that damn 'Germania whore' is getting bolder and bolder these days! She renewed her glare; her small hands balled into tiny fists until her knuckles turned white.

Finally, Kirche dropped her smile and faced Louise. "What's the big deal, Louise? It's not like there's anything to do around here, not while they're dealing with the huge mess that thief left behind." The redhead's statement caused Louise to turn white and start spacing off with worry. Never once noticing Louise's change in mood, she kept talking, "Plus, it gets rather boring always getting these study halls," When the redhead received no more response from Louise, she turned her attention back to the object of her affection and smiled. "Sometimes, it's better to experience new things for a change. Don't you agree, Zero?" she purred into his ear and stared at him passionately.

Zero quickly took a bite out of the fruit the dark skin beauty offered. "Er...this is very sweet," he commented afterward, desperately trying to change subject.

"You think so? But do you know what is more sweet?" she smiled; bring her lips closer and closer to his.

'_Oh crap,'_ he thought, slowly backing away from her.

"I-it's not that big of a mess is it?" Louise spoke suddenly, un-wittedly interrupting Kirche's advance. The pink hair girl sounded uncertain; not something that was normally associated with her.

Although she wasn't sure of the reasons, Kirche sensed weakness coming from the usually strong-minded Louise. She decided to stop playing with Zero for now and tease the girl a bit instead. After all, she could always work on the handsome blond and chip away his cool exterior, but a hesitant Louise was rare. "Oh, I heard it's a big problem alright, so big that Princess Henrietta might be forced to take responsibility for it. After all, the only reason Fouquet was able to sneak in was the small number of guards stationed here were reassigned to protect her instead. And I also heard she decided to visit the campus despite strong objections," Kirche explained, dramatizing everything.

Louise was caught into another cycle of negative thoughts while Kirche turned back to Zero, satisfied. The flirtatious woman was ready to continue her relentless charm offensive when suddenly, Colbert burst into the classroom. "Miss Vallière, Miss Tabitha, please come to the headmaster's office immediately," he said.

* * *

After explaining to the staffs once more what they had seen during Fouquet's incident, Louise was left standing in the room alongside Tabitha. Zero stood a few feet behind with Kirche by his side. Somehow, that 'whore', Zerbst, managed to tag along, and she was constantly giving her familiar these... 'inappropriate stares'. Irritated, she hissed, "Why are you here?"

"Why not? This looks interesting," Kirche answered and went back flirting with Zero.

The staffs continued their discussions. Then there was a knock on the door and a young green hair woman entered. "Miss Longueville, good to see you with us today. A lot had happened while you're away. We were currently discussing on how to find the thief that-"

"I have heard, Headmaster. While I was away, I managed to question a few people around the city and I was informed of a suspicious figure who goes in and out of an abandoned house located deep inside the forest," explained Miss Longueville.

"As swift and diligent as always, Miss Longueville." Osmond commended.

"Base on their testimonies, I was able to draw this," said the green hair woman, holding up a picture of a hooded figure for all to see.

Osmond took that picture and placed it next to another picture. He held them both up and asked, "What do you think?"

There were lots of whisperings among staffs as they compare the two pictures. "That is Fouquet! No mistake about it!" Louise exclaimed.

"Then let's report this to the royal palace right away. We could ask the knights to depart at once," Colbert suggested.

"No, if we take too long, Fouquet will get away. We shall reclaim the Staff of Destruction and restore the honor of this academy with our own hands. Those who wish to volunteer, raise your wand," said Osmond. All the staff members looked at one another but none raise their wand. "What's wrong? Aren't there any nobles in this room who wish to gain fame by capturing Fouquet?" Even then, no one made a move. _'If only Professor Chevreuse was here with us today...'_ the old mage thought while glaring at his spineless staffs who call themselves nobles...

Suddenly, a wand was raised, surprising everyone in the room. "I-I'll go!" Louise declared.

"Miss Vallière," Colbert murmured and stole a quick glance at her familiar. What he saw gave the professor a pause. There the familiar was, standing behind his master and trying to act inconspicuous while struggling to shake loose a certain redhead who was currently all over him... _'Is this really a God?'_ he thought and gave Osmond a quick look.

Somehow, Zero managed to get Kirche off of him and went up to Louise. "Are you sure about this, Louise?" he asked.

"Yes, and you are coming with me!" she replied, frowning. She had not missed the way that harlot, Zerbst, was seducing her familiar this entire time and in broad daylight no less! Seriously, that whore needed to get off of her familiar! It was an embarrassment seeing them like this. Actually, it was an embarrassment just being associated with them, and she had to put on great restrain just to not overreacting! After all, she's a lady. She had an image to keep; unlike those two!

Seeing the attention Louise is getting, Kirche raised her own wand and announced, "I'll go as well." When Louise looked over to her, she simply replied, "I can't lose to a Vallière." Then she happily snatched Zero's arm back into hers own, rested her head on his shoulder and added, "Plus, since my Zero is going as well, I have to make sure he is 'properly taken care of'." She watched and waited for Louise to react, to explode. To her, it was always a great source of entertainment to watch.

"Why you..." Louise grumbled, barely holding back herself from lashing out...

A staff was raised shortly after, prompting Kirche to release Zero's arm and refocus everyone's attention to the holder of the staff. "Tabitha? You don't have to go. This is our problem," said Kirche.

"Worried about you two," Tabitha replied.

"Tabitha..." Kirche murmured.

"Thank you," Louise said.

"Well then, I'll leave this matter to the three of you," said the headmaster. He was quite surprised the girls would volunteer for the task - especially since none of his regular staffs had. He was even more surprised that it was Louise who took the initiative. But then, he simply decided to count himself lucky. Since the girl offered herself to catch the thief, her familiar would likely be dragged along for the ride. This is the perfect opportunity to see what he is capable of. What's more, the team was strong and he had confident they would get the job done. All that was left was to convince the rest of those cowards - nobles that didn't step-up to the plate when called upon. If many of them didn't have strong ties with some very powerful families...

Although no one objects to the students' declaration, the staffs were beginning to whisper among themselves, questioning the headmaster's bold decision. Cowards or not, Osmond knew he had some explaining to do and began clarifying his decision. "Miss Tabitha, despite her young age, is a knight with the title of Chevalier." Both Louise and Kirche expressed their shock at such revelation while the rest of staffs started to quiet down. Gaining confident, the headmaster continued onward with his explanations, "In addition, Miss Zerbst is from Germania's famous military families, and I've heard that her flames are very strong."

"And...Miss Vallière..." Finally, Osmond came back addressing Louise and he found himself struggling to find the right words. After all, she isn't exactly the best person for the job, considering her past records...

"...She is a direct descendant of the Vallière family...which has produced many excellent mages, and..." Louise was a tough sell; Osmond realized as he whacked his brain trying to come up with something. "What I mean is erm... she has a bright future!" he exclaimed. The rest of his staffs started to stare at him skeptically. Looking around and running out of option, he spoke again, more desperate this time. "That's right. Er, I heard her familiar is a swordsman who overpowered Guiche de Gramont, the son of Marshal Gramont!" he exclaimed once more. Lucky for him, his last ditch effort seemed to have pay off as many opposing voices started dying down. The Vallière girl, however, seemed so demoralized that she was in a state of shock... "Anyway, the Magic Academy looks forward to your effort and commitment as nobles!" declared the headmaster.

Louise recovered and gathered along with the other girls. With determination, she raised her wand in union with the other two and swears to capture Fouquet. Soon after, Miss Longueville stepped in beside them and said, "Old Osmond, I'll accompany them as a guide."

"Will you, Miss Longueville?" Osmond asked.

"I planned to do so all along," she replied, smiling.

* * *

'_How did I get myself into this...'_ Zero mentally sighed. He was currently sitting in the middle of a wagon with Louise on one side and Kirche on his other. As usual: Kirche flirted, Louise glared, and the tension kept rising and rising. A 'Cold War' was brewing between those two, and he just became the center of their campaign against one another, a must win 'battle ground' for both camps...

While Zero was struggling to keep the two ladies from ripping each other's head off or directing their anger away from him so that they wouldn't tear him to shreds, Tabitha was sitting across from all the chaos with a book open. She immersed herself in her book and tuned out the 'distractions' coming from her companions. As she did all of that, she also kept a keen observation of her surrounding, scanning for any signs of danger. Vigilance - never letting ones guard down - it was something she learned over the years and had now become part of her norm...

"So, Miss Longueville, how long until we arrive?" asked Zero, desperately trying to shift the focus.

"We should be there in a few hours," the green hair secretary replied as she maneuvered their wagon.

Zero's question somehow managed to draw Louise attention away from their current 'standoff' and Kirche pouted. She so wanted to see steam coming out of the pink haired girl's ears. But then his question redirected her attention to their designated guide and she saw something sparkling. Curious, she left Zero's side and climbed next to Miss Longueville to investigate. "That is an unusual germ you got, Miss Longueville. Seems like a lot of magic was packed into it."

"Ah, this is a 'Rainbow Onyx'," replied the green haired secretary.

"Rainbow Onyx? But it's all black."

"Rare, one-time-use, high level earth magic amplifier," Tabitha explained. "Changes color when use."

"Hmm..." Kirche stared at the jewel in deep thought. A few seconds later, she noticed another odd thing, and her curiosity suddenly perked. "Miss Longueville? You are the headmaster's secretary right? You know you could leave this kind of work to a commoner. Why do it yourself?" the redhead asked, gesturing the rein the green hair woman was holding.

"It's all right. I'm not a noble," the woman answered offhandedly.

"Even though you are the headmaster's secretary?" Kirche thought out loud.

"The headmaster doesn't play favorites between nobles and commoners," Longueville replied sincerely.

"Hmm..." Kirche began thinking. "Well then, how did you lose your title?" she asked a few seconds later. When Miss Longueville didn't answer, Kirche pushed further. She can't help it; she's curious. "Come on, Miss Longueville, I wanted to know," Kirche pestered then adding, "You can tell me. I won't tell; I promise."

"Stop it, Zerbst! You are being rude!"

"Humph, I was just trying to start a conversation here. It's a long and boring trip after all."

"Let me remind you, Zerbst: we are not on a fieldtrip!"

"Humph, I know that. We are here to catch a thief. But seriously, why was I dragged into all of this?" the redhead whined. Ironically, Zero was thinking the same thing...

"If you hate it so much, you shouldn't have volunteered," came Louise's retort. She was clearly annoyed.

"It's all because I'm worried about my darling. Right, Zero?" Once again, the foxy girl latched herself onto Zero and purred into his ear.

"Haha, thank you for your concern, Zerbst, but I can take care of my own familiar!" the girl declare proudly.

"Oh really? What do you plan to do if that giant golem appears again?" said Kirche, casting her bait. She just loves playing with that girl.

Louise took the bait without hesitation and confidently replied, "Isn't it obvious. I will defeat it with my magic-"

"Magic? From you, 'Louise the Zero'? Hahaha, that's the funniest thing I heard all day," the redhead laughed.

"Why you Germania whore!" Louise retaliated and glared.

Upon hearing that, Kirche's smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed. "What did you say, Vallière?!"

The two girls went head to head in a heated glaring match, and sparks were flying everywhere.

'And things finally devolved into personal attacks...' Zero mentally sighed. It was starting to get annoying and so he made an attempt to get in between those two.

Before the reploid could get out of his seat, however, Derflinger spoke, "A word of advice, partner?" Zero stopped and regarded the sword on his back. "Never get in between two scornful women during their arguments. Nothing good ever comes out by getting yourself involved," said the ever wise ancient sword as if it had seen it many times before.

Zero took his partner's advice, thought about it a bit and sat back down in his sit. He watched as their argument heats up. Normally, he would watch this from afar, where it is 'safe', but he'll just have to make due for now and tried sneaking into a corner...

The girl's arguments escalated. Miss Longueville stopped the wagon and intervened. She started off with a mild approach. That failed and she ended up splashed in the face with water when a jug containing their water supply 'accidentally' flew to her face. Then, everyone onboard the carriage soon discovered a 'scary side' to the usually mild-mannered secretary.

...

...

...

After Miss Longueville threatened both girls with detention, the long and slow journey continued onward without incident. Although, the two were still glaring at one another from time to time...

By the time they got to their destination, it was already afternoon. From there, they walked their way into the heart of the forest - a half hour track. In Zero's opinion, they were moving at a snail's pace which prompted him to wonder if they really were serious in all of this.

Finally, they reached a clearing in the forest with a run down cabin. "From the information I've gathered, that should be the place," said Miss Longueville, pointing at the cabin.

While the girls hid behind the bushes and observed the building nervously, Zero stood without a care. "Are you sure?" he said and was ready to approach the cabin. His sensors indicated that the house was empty. Suddenly, he felt a hard tug at his arm. He looked to the source and found Louise glaring at him.

"What are you doing?! What if Fouquet spotted you?!" she hissed as she pull him next to her, never giving him a chance to explain.

The reploid paused and sighed. In the end, he decided to play along. It's a good chance to see how these girls deal with situations like this. Further more; it's a good chance to foster teamwork...even if trying to get those two to work together was like trying to mix water with oil. Still, it's worth a shot, he reasoned. "So, anyone got a plan?" he asked casually, sitting beside them.

After some deliberation, it was agreed upon the girls that someone should check to see if Fouquet was inside first, and they all nominated Zero for the job. Their reason: he is a familiar and that is what familiars do. The reploid rolled his eyes; he had to do everything after all. Still, as pointless as it was, he decided to do a proper surveillance and security sweep just so the girls could see how it was done.

The hunter moved quickly and silently, using shades to conceal his presence as he goes. He was kneeling by the side of the window soon after and signaled the girls to follow while he peeked inside. No one was inside of course, but he had to put up the act. A few seconds of signaling and no movement was detected. He turned around and found the girls staring at him. None of them made any attempt to come to him. They simply awaited his report - anxiously, especially Louise. The reploid sighed and monotonically announced, "There's no one inside. You can come out now." He's done trying to play mentor with them; his enthusiasm was gone.

At his words, the girls gathered around. Tabitha went up to the door and waved her staff. "No traps," she said and went inside.

"Tabitha!" Kirche cried and chased after her.

Zero stood near Louise, an unenthusiastic expression dominating his face. See her familiar loitering around uninterested, Louise suddenly gotten very much fired up. "Come on Zero, let's go!" she growled and dragged him along as she went into the cabin.

"I'll go scout around the area," Miss Longueville offered.

-z-z-

The cabin looked like no one had been living in there for years. Every piece of furniture was covered in layers of dust. "This place seems abandon," commented Kirche. "I doubt we'll find anything," she added.

Zero agreed, but he can't seem to shake this odd feeling off of him. It was like sensing something that was strangely familiar but doesn't belong...

Louise sneezed. "This place is a mess!"

"Aw, I am getting covered in dust. Tabitha, darling, let's get out of here."

Just as Kirche wrapped her arms around Zero's, Tabitha came back carrying a box. "Staff of Destruction," she said. The box appeared new and was decorated with the academy's emblem to the side.

Both Louise and Kirche's jaws dropped to the ground in complete disbelieve. Zero, too, gave it a pause and narrowed his eyes, although for a different reason. There were many things that didn't made sense, starting with the stolen staff being too easily found. Combining that with the fact that nobody seemed to have been living in this cabin for a long time, it was as if they were purposely led here by the perpetrator. Everything smelled like a trap. However, as suspicious as that was, the reploid sensed something else, something peculiar. There was a strange sense coming from the box that was very familiar...

Just as Zero was about to approach the so call 'Staff of Destruction', the roof of the cabin was torn off. A huge rock golem, twice the size of the one he saw a few days back, stood over him.

Immediately, Tabitha strapped the box containing the 'Staff of Destruction' to her back and placed her staff in front of her to summon a huge vortex of wind. Her spell hit the golem head-on and stunned it for a second. Not to be out done, Kirche followed it up with a huge column of flame. The fire spell shot straight toward the titan's face, setting it ablaze and causing it to stumble a few steps backward.

Meanwhile, Louise dashed out of the cabin to chase after the golem as Zero followed close behind. Once they got outside, Miss Longueville was nowhere to be seen, and the golem quickly dispelled the flame on its body.

Without much thought, Louise got in front of the golem and cast her spell. There was a tiny explosion on the golem's chest like a small firecracker going off. Obviously, no damage was done, but it did got the giant's attention.

'_Her regular explosions pack waay more punch than that...'_ the hunter mused. From the corner of his eyes, he catches sight of Tabitha and Kirche in the sky on top of a blue dragon. _'Smart move,'_ he thought and decided to wait and see what these girls would do next. He quickly turned his attention back to Louise. To his disappointment, the girl simply stood and pointed her wand at the giant. When it was clear she had no intention of moving away, he spoke, "What are you doing, Louise?! Run!"

"I won't," she stubbornly replied and stood firm.

"Huuh?" He looked at her, incredulous.

"I am a noble. Those who can use magic aren't real nobles. It's those who don't run away that truly earn the title. I won't stay 'Louise the Zero' forever!" she exclaimed and attempted to cast another spell. By now, the golem was ready to strike. Luckily for her, Zero had stop waiting. He rushed to Louise, grabbed her while she was midway casting, and dashed away. A second later, the ground Louise stood was smashed to bits. Had she stay, she would have met a certain death.

Zero carried Louise to a safe distance before letting her to her feet. He then held her still and forced her to look at him. "What were you thinking, Louise!? You wanted to die!?" He stared into her eyes intensely, like a father glaring at his naughty child.

Zero's harsh gaze combine with her own failure were too much for Louise, and she broke. Tears were starting to form. "But...but everyone makes fun of me all the time... It's so humiliating. If I run away, I'll be made fun of again."

'_Oh great. She just had to have a 'mental episode' right now...'_ he thought. It was a good thing Tabitha and Kirche were doing a fairly good job distracting the golem. "Listen to me, Louise. I know how you feel, but not dodging an oncoming attack is reckless. You will get yourself killed! And if you died, you will forever remain 'Louise the Zero' in everyone's eyes!" he lectured her sternly.

"B-But..." she tried to protest, but with her emotion running on overload, she finds it hard to form words. Streams of tears started to flow down her rosy cheeks. "...I have to keep my promise to the princess..."

'_Oh boy, this is 'so not good'...'_ he thought. Apparently, Louise's mental state was in worse shape than he thought and was rapidly deteriorating. Any further distress and she will spiral down into despair. In other words, he got an emotionally unstable woman on his hand, and this had just become one of those 'delicate' situations. He will have to choose his words more wisely from now on... The reploid softened his expression and, in a smoothing voice, said, "I understand, but if you want to prove yourself, you will have to calm yourself down first." Surprisingly, this wasn't as difficult as he thought. Words simply flowed out of his mouth. He wondered if he had done this before...

While Louise was calming down, the hunter noticed Tabitha and Kirche continued unleashing spell after spells at the golem from the air. Their combine aerial assaults were doing little damage. He considered lending them a helping hand but thought of a better idea. He turned to Louise and said, "Let me tell you something good, Louise." When she looked at him, curious, he explained, "Your spell is very effective at destroying things, more so than either Tabitha or Kirche. Now is your time to shine; show them what you got and destroy that golem!"

"What do you mean? All of my spells ends in some kind of explosions. They're a utter failure!"

"Louise, who say explosions are failures," he smirked and she pouted. "They're one of the most powerful weapons in all existence. You should make good use of them."

"What?! H-How is that possible?!" she exclaimed, confused by conflicting thoughts. She was excited that someone thought of her spells being useful, but she was also very skeptical of such praise. After all, no one had ever commended her 'exploding spells' before...

"Just believe in yourself, Louise. Your power specialized in destroying things like these. Now, while those two are distracting it, go blow it up and claim your glory," he encouraged and lightly pushed her forward.

"Wait...What should I do? Which spell should I use?" She turned back to her familiar, panicked.

Zero sighed, "Listen Louise, since all your spells ended being some kind of explosions anyway, you should not worry about choosing which spell to use. Choose one where you are comfortable with and create the explosion you desire. Focus on the power and size behind it, and don't worry what the spell was originally designed to do."

His words opened her eyes to the possibilities she hadn't consider before. She nodded and closed her eyes. Clearing her mind, she began chanting a spell. Her focus was absolute. She's going to create her biggest explosion ever...

As the pink hair mage charge her spell, Zero became increasingly worried. His sensors picked up a high level of energy coming from the girl and growing rapidly. Although the energy build up was fairly stable but... "Um, Louise..." he said. She did not response. Her concentration was absolute. He shifted his gaze to the girls in the sky. They were nowhere near the golem. Then the energy suddenly stopped growing and Louise opened her eyes. Her spell was cast; and then...

KABOOOM

The golem was hit with a massive explosion, epic in size. The entire body of the massive golem from waist up was reduced to dusts. What was left of the titan quickly turned into rubbles. The shock wave could be felt hundreds of yards away. It was a good thing that Zero managed to shield Louise's body or else she would have been sent flying. Tabitha, her dragon and Kirche managed to escape injury only because they were both very high and far away at the time of the explosion, and Tabitha had somehow managed to put up a very strong wind barrier around them.

'_That was waay too excessive,'_ he thought. Had he stood next to that blast, even he would have suffered damage. It was clear to the hunter that she was waay too dangerous for her own good and definitely not ready for battle, and he let her know. "Louise! Next time try to control your power! You will get everyone killed!"

Louise, however, wasn't listening. Despite breathing heavily, a consequence of using too much mana in one-go, she was more interested in seeing the result of her handy work. She was excited. For the first time in her life, her spell managed to do something extraordinary. She defeated a high level golem! Like a mist was suddenly lifted from her mind, she started seeing all kinds of paths and possibilities before her. She was awesome, and she was ready to celebrate her success in the form of a victory dance.

Tabitha's dragon landed beside them not long after, and the two girls dismounted. "What was that explosion?" Kirche inquired.

Louise turned to her and gloated, "Ha! Amazing right?! You see, that was my spell!" Her eyes were sparkling with joy.

"Humph!" Kirche frowned. Even though she thought the blast was amazing, she cannot help it. Seeing the pink hair girl all glittery like that just gets on her nerve. "I thought it would be something like that, 'Louise the Zero'. Explosion is all you can manage."

"Ha! You are just jealous that it was 'I' who defeated that golem, Zerbst," she boasted, still high from her recent feat.

"Jealous? Me? Oh my, how far have your arrogance grown, Vallière. Shouldn't I remind you? My spells were all properly cast. Yours was simply an 'accident' and a danger to everyone."

Kirche's taunt worked, and Louise glared. Her eyes were no longer sparkling with joy. Instead, they were burning with hatred. "Why you Germania whore!" she growled.

"What did you say, Louise the Zero?" Kirche narrowed her eyes with a cold smile across her face.

Zero sighed. _'They were at it again...'_ he thought. While the two girls were bumping heads, the ground below them began to shake. Both Zero and Tabitha realized the danger and acted quickly. The former grabbed the two bickering girls and jumped to one side; the later jumped to the opposite side and cast a protective wind barrier around them all. Tabitha's dragon also noticed the danger and took to the sky. Moments later, the ground they stood on was transform into another giant rock golem. This time, it was of the size as the one use by Fouquet a few days back. A few seconds later, two more of these rock giants joined the first.

"Three triangle-class golems?! Damn it, Fouquet must have some very powerful allies! This must be a trap!" blurted out the redhead.

"Ha! I'll take care of them all!" Louise boasted and began chanting a spell.

"Um, Louise, it's perhaps best if you don't..." said Zero, but it was too late...

"Lel, in, yan!" Louise shouted, casting her spell. Once again, a small firecracker like explosion went off on one of the golems, effectively doing no damage.

Although Zero didn't sense a surge of energy like he did last time, he went in front of the girls immediately, ready to shield them should things go horribly wrong. He had a feeling that Louise was the real danger around here, not the golems... When nothing happens, he breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Ha, see what I mean, 'Louise the Zero'!" Kirche mocked almost immediately after Louise's failure. Unlike Zero, she didn't really see much danger coming from the pink hair girl.

"Shup up! That was just a little mistake!" Louise shouted back.

"Girls, now is not the time to argue among yourselves. We should work together to overcome a strong foe," he said, trying to get them to work together but to no avail. They simply weren't listening. Meanwhile, one golem was closing in...

"Partner, how long are you going to tolerate this?"

"..." Zero looked around him. Kirche and Louise were more interested in their glaring contest than anything else. While one golem was coming after them, two went after Tabitha. The two rock giants were working so well together that they prevented the Chevalier from getting on her dragon. _'Perhaps it's time to end this,'_ the reploid thought.

Just as Zero was about to act, Tabitha's dragon swooped down and unleashed a huge vortex of wind from its mouth. Its master took the opportunity to turn the vortex of wind into a violent hail storm of ice shards that freeze upon contact. The ice storm hit the two golems hard and quickly turned them into two huge blocks of ice. The golems powered through and broke free a few seconds later, but Tabitha was ready. While the rock giants were temporary encased in ice, two massive cone shaped ice spikes formed horizontally in midair with their pointy tips directed at the golems. Not a moment later, the two massive icicles flew at high speeds and slammed right into the two golems' chests, impaling them. The two giants fell backward and landed onto the ground, resulting in a small quake. A few seconds later, as the two golems began to disintegrate, Tabitha jumped back on her dragon and was heaving slightly.

'_Impressive...'_ thought the reploid. Now he really wanted to see how far these girls could go...

Just then, the one remaining golem split into twenty smaller version of themselves and quickly surrounded the trio. Unlike the big clumsy giant, these newer version of golems were much faster than before but with only twice the height of a full-grown man. Unfortunately, their increase in speed came at the price of lower defense, and such flaw became apparent when Kirche unleashed her new spell.

"Fire Sphere!" A huge ball of fire rose from Kirche's wand and hover a few meters above her head. Then, the fiery globe started spitting out small fireballs at a rapid rate. The fireballs hit hard and quickly reduce the number of golems by half, starting with the close ones. The remaining ones charged the fire mage at once, hoping to overwhelm her. The barrage of fireballs continued, destroying many more golems that came in range.

_'Not bad,'_ thought the reploid as he watched the golems getting toasted by Kirhce's spell.

One golem managed to slip pass the salvo of fireballs and charged the girl. Zero quickly stepped in and blocked its path. The golem raised its fist and threw a punch at the reploid. "Use me, partn-" Derflinger urged but was too late. His partner had already acted.

The legendary hunter put up a hand and steadied his footing on the ground. The golem's mighty fist struck the hunter's palm. There was a deafening impact of something breaking. However, instead of getting uprooted and be thrown aside like a rag doll as everyone would expect, Zero didn't budged an inch and the rock monster's movement unexpectedly stopped. A closer inspection would reveal that many cracks had formed along its arm that was used to strike at its opponent. Not wasting any time, Zero rushed up to his opponent and delivered a few quick punches to its body, light jabs really, and the golem crumbled. _'So weak...'_ he thought as he stared at the pile of dirt. His opponent failed to last even one second...

Staring at the remain of his defeated opponent, Zero vaguely remembered his 'partner' said something earlier. Having missed what his sentinel sword was trying to say, he took a glance at his sword and asked, "Hm?"

"Never mind, partner. Never mind..." Derflinger replied.

When the first wave of golems was crushed, a second wave was quickly summoned to replace them. Among them were many smaller ones which had been pulverized by Kirche's spell earlier and two larger ones similar to the ones Tabitha destroyed not too long ago. The smaller sized golems formed quickly and surrounded the trio while the large ones were slowly taking shape. Surrounding soils gathered around the two large golems and formed their bodies. Suddenly, a hail storm of ice hit the backs of these two yet to be fully form giants and their immediate surrounding. The incomplete giants were frozen in place as well as their surrounding soil. With the ground around them frozen and unable to form the giants' limbs, they were nothing more than some gigantic husks of rocks.

Following her hail storm, Tabitha sent a wave of wind blades toward the forest below. Her spell cut through layers of tree branches and struck at what she thought was a suspicious figure below. She paused for a second and observed. She sensed no magic was used to counter her spell, and the situation on the ground didn't seemed to have change much either. That meant she either missed or got the wrong target. Her gaze shifted to other areas of the forest below and began searching for their attacker or attackers once again.

Meanwhile, a hoard of smaller sized golems threatened to swarm Kirche and her companions with numbers. The fire mage's spell was doing a fairly good job holding them off. However, a few golems would occasionally break through her fiery spell. Luckily, Zero was there to fill in the gaps and quickly ripped them to shreds before they could do anything.

After they wipeout a third wave of golems, Zero was beginning to get bore. He casually discarded an arm of one of his late 'victims' and began looking around his surrounding, trying to locate their assailant or assailants. It was then that Louise decided to get involve, and soon, chaos descents...

-z-z-

Fouquet cursed under her breath as one of her decoy got destroyed. Still, she kept sending more of her smaller sized golem-soldiers to the frontline and watched them getting torn to pieces. Replacements had to be made almost constantly, but she was beginning to feel it was a lost cause. Even with the magic enhancements, she simply wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. She could try making larger ones, but they need time to form properly; time the girl in the sky wouldn't give her. Since her earth magic is not effective against airborne targets, her plan was to focus her attacks on the ground and drew that Chevalier knight down to help her friends.

Her small golems were easy to make and perfect to use against the grounded trio since the ice mage above wouldn't be able to stop their fast formation. Although these golems lack power, she could make a lot of them in a short amount of time. Any lesser mage would be easily overwhelmed. To eliminate possibility of an area wide attack from above, she placed them close to that Chevalier knight's friends.

Her plan started to hit a few bumps when Kirche fought back and unleashed a high level fire spell. She watched as many of her golem soldiers got fried before they could get close. Still, she was confident she could overwhelm the fire mage given enough tries. The fact that a number of her golems managed to get past the barrage of fire balls proved her judgment was spot on with regard to that Germanian's strength.

Her plan would have been a success if not for that familiar...The first time she laid eyes on that man, she knew he was troublesome. And now, he is rendering her attack on that Germanian useless by tearing apart the few golems that managed to get through. Even though she got a sense that he was no ordinary commoner, she hadn't predict he could face her golems head-on, and with bare hands no less. Because of this little miscalculation, her plan was fast falling apart. Judging the strength he was displaying, she concluded he was at least at line mage level. _'Probably specialized in physical enhancement magic,'_ she thought.

Then she looked at one person who hadn't done a whole lot ever since this stalemate got started. Louise Françoise Vallière, a mage with a zero percent successful rate in magic casting. Perhaps the one she had underestimate the most was this girl. She never had thought this failure of a mage could destroy one of her strongest golem and produce an epic explosion that nearly threw her off of her feet. Nonetheless, that pink hair brat wasn't doing anything useful at the moment. Not that she could do any good in this situation. If she tried, she'll end up blowing up herself and her allies.

Another of one her decoy got destroyed by that blue hair knight above, and Fouquet was beginning to wonder if this whole 'learning the secret of the Staff of Destruction by fighting a bunch of kids' was worth it. To begin with, she didn't know if anyone of them even knew how to use it. It was just a hunch that if she pushes them into a corner, they would somehow reveal the staff's secret. Looking at the situation right now, it was '_she_' who was being pushed into a corner. If this continues to drag on, she's not very confident of the outcome. She had definitely underestimated these brats. To think she came prepared to deal with those academy professors and was being pushed around by a bunch of kids...

In any case, she had two options: Retreat and rejoin the group. Then, steal the staff when opportunity presents itself. But if a fight with them was to break out somewhere down the road, she would lose many advantages she still enjoys right now. Option two: she could go all out and keep pushing them until something happens. A number of hidden spell circles had been drawn around the area. She could use them to create and control golems she used at the beginning of this fight. However, timing will be a problem. Once activate, it will take some time for her golems to form properly; and during that time, her spell circles must remain intact. With the Chevalier knight flying overhead, this didn't look like to be an option. On the other hand, leaving the area meant losing the ability to use them all together since moving them from a distance will take too much mana. They were meant to be use as shock troopers after all. Redrawing those magic circles won't do either since the preparation will take her at least a day. Not using the existing ones would simply be a waste. She tightens her fists in frustration when the Chevalier knight flied overhead and almost spotted her while more of her golem soldiers were destroyed. Those magic circles were originally her 'ace in a hole' against even a square level mage but now...

As Fouquet was torn choosing between her increasingly limiting options, she suddenly received a lucky break and the road before her cleared up in the form of a loud but weak explosion...

-z-z-

Louise had been watching Kirche's fireballs destroying golems left and right while her own familiar ripped apart those earth puppets as they came near. She looked to the sky and saw Tabitha riding on her dragon searching for their attackers, occasionally firing spells into the forest. Everyone was busy, but all she could do was just stood there nervously pointing wand around. The feeling of being useless was beginning to seep into her once more but she held it back. She refused to be useless and started to conjure up a spell. She pointed to a golem furthest away from her and let her spell fly. Her aim was slightly off, however, and her spell flew to a closer one instead. Then...

BOOM

Thick black smoke quickly filled the clearing, engulfing the trio and the golems. Confusion soon followed.

"Damn it, Louise!" came Kirche's disgruntled voice. Choking on smoke, she voiced her criticism. "What did you do that for?! You know you can't cast! Can't you do anything right?!"

"S-shut up!" Louise coughed but remains defiant. "It was just a little mistake!"

"Ladies, stay calm, don't panic, watch your steps and don't move around too much," said Zero. The reploid switched his vision to infrared and motion detecting sensors almost immediately following the black smoke.

Despite Zero's advice, Louise and Kirche opted to listen to their own instinct and tried to feel their way out. In effective, they were walking around blind with enemies all around them...

It took a fraction of a second for Zero to map out the girls' whereabouts and his enemies' positions. During that time, the golems' movements stopped briefly. They appeared just as blind as the girls. But just as Zero was about to set out and dispose of them, they began moving, and they moved as one. All golems were rushing toward the same location as if they were guide by something. He suspected it was that gigantic fireball meters above Kirche's head. It was like a beacon, drawing them in; and once Kirche start moving, both the fireball and golems followed. Why she haven't dispel that thing was beyond him especially since it wasn't doing anything useful aside from giving away her position...

In any case, the hunter's priority was to protect the girls for now. He went ahead and started terminating the charging golems. Their lack of response when he was upon them suggested their master's directive was to simply rush toward their destination. Well, not that any of this meant anything, he thought as he prepared for a bit of fun ahead and started 'golem hunting'.

Sounds of combats happened all around Louise, but she could hardly see anything in front of her. Nervous, she quickened her pace and attempted to get out of the smoke. Suddenly, she saw a silhouette of a golem like figure appearing in front of her. She attempts to cast a spell on that shadow but nothing came out. Running out of option, she turned around and started running in the opposite direction and... "Ahh!" She tripped on some overgrown tree roots and fell forward. Lucky for her, Zero was just right behind and caught her before she hits the ground.

"See, Louise? I told you to not run around blindly."

"Grr, shut up, Zero!" she responded before up-righting herself. Even though she was grateful he caught her, his general attitude toward her just made her wanting to strangle him instead. Because of the serious situation they were in, she opted to just glare at him for now. And glared and glared...

"What?" Zero asked, amused. Before Louise could response, Kirche's voice was heard and...

"Zero, my darling, are you alright? Oh, I am so worry abou-ahh!" Apparently, she hadn't watch her steps under these less than optimal condition and accidentally stepped on a rock covered in moss. She slipped and fell backward, hitting her head and losing consciousness soon after. Without her in control, the huge fireball in the sky faded away.

Zero came and stood over Kirche's unconscious form soon after. Louise followed close behind. _'...another one that didn't listen,'_ he sighed. Unfortunately for the redhead, the reploid's reaction to save her was delayed when Louise instinctively latched herself onto him upon hearing the scream. By the time he calmed Louise down and got her off of him, Kirche had already landed her head on the hard forest floor. Since Kirche had already fell, he decided to go at a human pace and let Louise tag along as he approach the fallen girl. After all, he didn't want to leave the pink hair girl alone and risk having her running around blind and suffer the same fate...

-z-z-

Tabitha, who was flying above tracking down their attacker, heard the scream and saw the disappearing fireball. Worried, she urged her dragon to fly down where she last seen it. As she got close, she vaguely saw three figures, one lying down on the ground. Smoke still blurred her vision so she sent out a blast of wind and blew away the rest of the smoke. When the smoke cleared, the ice mage spotted Kirche lying on the ground with Zero kneeling beside her.

The ice mage quickly kneeled beside Kirche and checked on her condition. To her relieve, her red hair friend was merely unconscious.

"Um, she slipped and fell," Zero explained.

The Chevalier nodded and surveyed their surrounding. All the golems around them were gone. Piles of dirt everywhere marked their graves. Louise stood a few feet away in a somewhat confused state. Knowing they might still be attack by Fouquet, she levitates Kirche's unconscious form to her dragon and straps her down. Her assumption was proven correct a second later when the ground around them began to shake.

Tabitha wasn't sure what was to come but she sensed a high level of magic was being used. This was a lot more serious than before, and she immediately turned to her two companions. "Danger. I stay. You leave," said the quiet girl, pointing to her dragon. Meanwhile, the ground started shaking violently and five large rock bodies were beginning to take shape.

"What are you talking about? We can't leave you alone to deal with someone as dangerous as Fouquet!"

"Louise is right, Tabitha. You don't have to do this alone. We can help... Actually on second thought, I can help. Louise, you should leave. Any more of your um, 'little mistakes' and things could really get out of-"

"Grr, shut up, Zero! I am staying! You just watch as I destroy those golems with MY spells!" Louise screamed while glaring heatedly at her familiar. She may have been a little hesitant before, but she's totally fired up now. In fact, she had never been more fired up in her entire life!

Tabitha studied their expressions while assessing her situation. The battle ahead is going to be tough, and she wasn't sure if she could make it out alive. The mage they were fighting was probably a square mage or a very high level triangle mage... Such mage could easily switch to other forms of magic that are much faster and could target the air. The injured have to be evacuated; the inexperienced should leave; and she was fully prepared to stay behind and hold off their attacker while her friends make their escape. However, she could see the determinations in Louise's eyes and Zero seemed very confident...so confident that there was a hint of amusement coming off of him...

Normally, letting an inexperienced mage like Louise to go into a dangerous fight was not a wise decision, especially when she wasn't even able to guarantee her own survival, but she had seen Louise's ability and realized her potential. In addition, Zero's unusual brute strength and fighting abilities should at least be able to keep Louise safe from harm. Trusting her intuition, the chevalier finally nodded half a second later and pushed all the negative factors and worries to the back of her mind.

Quickly, the ice mage signaled her dragon to take flight and sent it away. With her friend safely out of the way, she turned her attention to the battle ahead. Deep inside the surrounding forests, five super sized golems stood, overshadowing the trees. They were of the same size as the first golem they had encountered which was blown apart by Louise's spell. These things were twice the size of the ones she defeated not too long ago and had displayed a high level of defense capable of withstanding the combine assaults of both Kirche and herself, and they were nearly formed. On the clearing which they stand, an army of smaller golems were quickly assembling and surrounded them, threatening to overrun them with large numbers.

"Well, I'll take care of the smaller ones," said Zero. He then charged the small assembling army and quickly tears them to pieces...literally, with bare hands and all...

While Zero was dismantling the smaller ones, Tabitha focused all her attention in trying to stop the titans from completing their formation. She summoned a hail storm in each of the giant's respective locations. It didn't work. She then summoned two huge ice spikes similar to the ones she used to defeat the previous giants. She held the ice spears in midair and poured more magic into them, letting them grow. When she reached the limit of what she could manage, she send them flying toward the two closest colossal. Although the resulting ice spears used up a huge chunk of her mana reserve, they were a third bigger than her previous ones and promised to deal a lot more damage. This should be able to destroy or cripple two giants. The drawback, however, was that she wouldn't be able to cast large scale offense spells like these for the rest of the battle...

As expected, one of the ice spears pierced into the chest of one of those giants and instantly turned it into an ice sculpture from within. The other giant moved its hands and tried catching the ice spear. Two massive hands managed to seize the massive icicle, stopping it from reaching its body. However, the cold from the ice spear froze the titan's hands on contact and continued up along its arms. In the end, the giant was forced to detach both of its arms up to its shoulders in order to save itself from being completely frozen over.

Following Tabitha's example, Louise picked one of the giant colossal as her target and began casting her spell. She tuned out her surrounding and concentrates hard. She would get it right this time and get the explosion she desires, she told herself.

Zero, who was nearly through with the golem army, immediately looked Louise's way and almost froze. His worst fear was becoming a reality: Louise was going to cast another spell. And worse, the energy reading was high this time, unlike her previous 'little mistakes'...

Almost instantly, Zero appeared beside Louise. He dare not disturb her while she was in the process of casting her spell for fear that she would loose control and release the energy buildup prematurely. He merely watched and hoped for the best. As long as her spell didn't explode at point blank range, he was sure he could limit any potential harm coming their way. But her aims...

To Zero's surprise and Louise's delight, her spell went off without a hitch this time. The explosive spell hit the golem head-on and exploded with just the right amount of force to shatter its upper body, yet without creating an insane explosion. The remains of that golem soon fell over onto the forest floor and disappeared from view.

When it was all over, the reploid breathed another sigh of relieve, but then...

"Ha, you see that, Zero?! I did it! It was MY spell! MY SPELL!"

Louise started to behave like a child, and Zero rolled his eyes at that.

While Louise was boasting her accomplishment to her familiar, Tabitha wiped out the few remaining small golems that Zero had missed with her 'ice needle' spell. She quickly assessed their situation and found it had improved greatly. No additional small sized golems were summoned to the battle field and only three large ones remain with one of them being severely crippled. She was low on mana and was no longer able to destroy any of the remaining large ones. However, the lack of activities coming from Fouquet indicated the thief may be low on mana as well. That meant she only have to support Louise until the remaining three are defeated. Actually, with Zero seemingly fighting with full capacity and actively supporting Louise, she only need to protect herself and guard against any sudden attacks. Louise will soon blow up the remaining golems and then she could tackle their attacker.

Tabitha watched as Louise raised her wand and pointed at anther giant. A spell was cast and then... nothing happened. Undeterred, the pink hair girl tried once more. Again, nothing happened; not even the slightest power surge usually associated with her spells - which inevitably destabilizes quickly and turn into a chaotic explosion...

A few second passed and still nothing. Then, Louise turned around to face the rest of her companions. "...I-I think I may have run out of m-magic," she muttered sheepishly. Embarrassed, her eyes were locked onto the ground the entire time.

Tabitha watched as the titans marched ever closer and were almost upon them. Without the destructive power of Louise's spells or her own large scale spells, their outlook suddenly didn't seem as bright as before. As she considered her options of either to make a hasty retreat or keep fighting, she can't help but notice Zero seemed strangely relieve to hear Louise had ran out of mana...

Zero looked at the approaching golems. _'...Slow and clumsy, not much of a threat,'_ he concluded. He then took a look at the girls. _'They seem to be out...'_ He debate whether to draw his Z-buster out and do some 'target practice'. On one hand, it's a very efficient way to dispose of these gigantic piece of jokes while protecting the girls, certainly better than with his fists only. The problem was whether they would question the origin of his weapon afterward...

Sensing something was up, Derflinger suddenly spoke up, "Time to use me, partner!"

"Hmm?" said Zero, looking at his weapon in mild surprise. "You sure you are up for that, Derf? I had been told my weapon usage could be pretty rough..." Actually, when he brought his weapons to Cerveau for maintenance, he had been accused of being down right abusive to the way he treat his weapons...

"What! Who do you think I am, 'partner'! I am the Great Derflin-ahh!" Derflinger's speech was cut short when Zero shrug, draw him out of the sheath and testing it a few times in the air. Just a few swings and he could tell his new master was indeed quite rough with his weapons...

A couple of swings later, Zero started walking in the direction of the closest of the three golems. Although he didn't think Derflinger was made to be swing at rocks, he was confident enough that it was strong enough to clash with these giants. And while it didn't really address his efficiency problem, he decided not to go crazy on them yet. The situation weren't really that dire anyway. Tabitha could probably cast a few more defensive spells and he could afford to play a bit more.

"Hey! Where do you think are you going?!" Louise screamed after her familiar.

Zero kept going, never once turning around to face her. He simply raised his hand and waved casually. "I'll hold these things off. You girls should make a run for it," he explained.

"You can't be serious, Zero!" Louise yelled. Her familiar simply kept going. She knew her familiar was strong, but she can't imagine how he could survive fighting these monsters. _'He would get himself killed!'_ she thought. She looked at Tabitha, hoping her classmate would do something to stop her reckless familiar. Then, something caught her eyes.

The box containing the 'Staff of Destruction' was strapped onto her classmate's back. Without giving it much thought, Louise rushed up to the blue hair girl and grabbed the box. "Give me that!" she demanded and basically ripped the box off of the other girl. She immediately took out the content of the box and discovered a strange looking 'tube'. It was mostly white in color with some strange markings. Cylinder in shape, with a few bumps sticking out in odd places, it had a circumference wider than both of her hands could wrap around. All in all, it was strangest looking staff she had ever seen. Nonetheless, she took that 'staff', chased after her familiar, and started to swing left and right, hoping to somehow activate its legendary power.

When Louise took out the 'Staff of Destruction', Zero felt a sense of both familiarity and dread. For an entire two seconds, he froze, unwilling to believe his sensors. When she started swinging the object around in her hand, he finally got over the strong senses of 'home' and danger and turned around. What he saw nearly sent him into yet another state of shock as many questions raced across his mind. There it was in Louise's hands, a military missile launcher from his world. In fact...

'_Anti-Ride-Armor missile launcher!'_ For a fraction of a second, Zero simply stared at the ridiculous object in Louise's hands. However, the way she was holding the weapon and swinging it around like an idiot prompted him to act. He ran toward Louise and grabbed the weapon away from her. "Be careful with this thing, Louise!"

The moment Zero's hand touched the weapon, his runes began to glow and the unknown foreign program suddenly became active. His body felt lighter, his overall senses got sharper, and there was a sudden surge of power rising from within him. At this point, the three remaining titans have cleared the forest and were ready to attack. Dismissing whatever upgrades he just received, the reploid grabbed onto Louise on her waist and dashed toward Tabitha. He released the pink haired girl and turned to the blue hair one. "Keep her safe," he said and went back to engage the titans.

His attempt to lure the golems away from the girls succeeded and the golems followed. Once he was far enough, he leveled the missile launcher at the stone giants and gains a lock on them. After that, he pulled the trigger and three missiles shot out of the weapon. Guided by the locks, the missiles hit their targets right on their chests with devastating effects. While the resulting explosions were not as wide in range as Louise's biggest explosion for the day, the power and intensity behind them were similar if not greater...

'_As expected from an anti ride armor weapon...'_ the reploid thought while studying the missile launcher for a second. The letters 'ARAHM-3000' written in red was found to the side of the weapon. _'Elf War standard equipment for heavy-infantries,'_ he concluded. Although his memories were sketchy at best and he had never run across launchers of this type during his fights with Neo Arcadia, he was fairly certain that was the era in which this weapon came from. Such devastating weapon had left quite a deep impression on him during those chaotic times...

After the explosions and things seemed finally settling down, Louise and Tabitha ran up to Zero. While the reploid was troubled by how weapons from his world ended up here, Louise was more interested in questioning him about the 'Staff of Destruction'. The ice mage scanned the area for a bit for any signs of danger. Something doesn't seem right, and softly, she spoke, "Fouquet."

That put Louise back on edge. "That's right! If only the golems were destroyed, then she should still be around," she said out loud and began to look around. Zero, though, doesn't seem too concern...

Just then, Miss Longueville showed up. "Is that the Staff of Destruction?" she asked. "Quick, give it to me and let's get out of here. We will deal with Fouquet later."

Tabitha held her staff in front of her in a defensive position. Something is definitely off but she wasn't sure what. Suddenly, Zero tossed the 'Staff of Destruction' in her direction. She catches the staff just as Zero rush forward with Derflinger in his hand and cut Miss Longueville in half from across her waist. As soon as he did that, she realized what that uneasy feeling was.

"W-What have you done, Zero?!" Louise exclaimed, horrified.

"Take a closer look, Louise. That is not Miss Longueville. It's not even human," Zero explained offhandedly. Zero explained offhandedly. His mind was actually on something else, and he frowned while looking at his runes. They were no longer shining. Whatever upgrade he received earlier had all but vanished. His senses too had dulled and reverted back to normal. This all happened as soon as the missile launcher left his hand...

The defeated fake retain much of Miss Longueville's features such as the color and texture of her skin, a testament to the high degree of skill used to create it. However, its interior was clearly made of a mixture of rocks, mud and sand. Furthermore, the area where it was split in half was now brittle with many cracks. It's definitely not human. While Louise was gawking at Miss Longueville's 'corpse', Tabitha came next to her and calmly explained, "Earth clone."

"That was very impressive, Mr. Familiar! How did you know that was a fake?" came Fouquet's voice echoing throughout the surrounding forest seemingly from all sides.

Zero felt a lot of confidence coming thief's remark, so he decided to worry about his runes later. Right now, 'humoring' this little thief comes first. With a smirk, he replied, "Heh, you foot prints are way too deep. No human could leave heavy prints like those." He pointed to path which the clone took. Indeed, foot prints could be seen and they were deeper than what one would expect from a normal human being, but only trained eyes could tell such differences - which was not a problem for him. Of course there were other sensors which told him that thing was a fake almost as soon as it appeared, but none of these people here needed to know...

"Hahaha, how very observant of you, familiar!"

"Why thank you, Miss Longueville, or Fouquet was it? So, you ready to stop this silly fight and surrender? Or do I have to drag you out, kicking-and-screaming?"

"Oh, how did you figure it was me, familiar?"

"'Rainbow Onyx'." He pointed to the broken jewel the defeated clone was wearing. "A one-time-use earth magic amplifier right? The entire time we have been fighting an earth mage while you are away, and that very same jewel appeared on your clone. That's too much for a mere coincident. Heh, my guess: you are getting desperate and create this clone in hurry according to your current image. Unfortunately, that exposes your identity," he answered nonchalantly. There was also a chance the thief stole the accessory from the secretary of course; but once he got suspicious, he did a bit of analysis and compared the physiques between the both of them. It was a match, so he was pretty sure they were the same person...

-z-z-

'_Tch,'_ Fouquet frowned and unconsciously touched her broken booster accessory. This familiar was way too sharp. Her decision to send in a clone to test the water instead of going out herself proved to be a wise decision...

As Fouquet continued to observe the trio, her frown deepened further. While the two girls were looking all around the forest, trying to figure out where she is, the familiar was facing straight ahead the entire time, which coincidentally was where she was hiding. Even though he showed no other sign of knowing her whereabouts, she was increasingly convinced that the familiar had her location figured out. _'It's almost as if he knew...'_

This familiar was turning out to be more problematic than she first thought. With how the things looked right now, it's too dangerous trying to recover the Staff of Destruction from them. And by the body language that damn familiar was displaying, he knew it as well! It must be why he appeared so relaxed! _'Grr, that arrogance will be his downfall!'_ she promised and made her decision then. Quickly, she removed a box that was strapped onto her back and brought it up front. She opened that box and took out its content - a large cylindrical tube with few bumps along the way: 'Staff of Destruction' or aka Anti-Ride-Armor missile launcher...

"It's such a shame, really," Fouquet said and lifted the weapon to her shoulder. Quickly, she started punching in a sequence of buttons she had seen the familiar did just a while ago. The weapon seemingly came to life. While two staffs is better than one, but with most of her advantages gone at this point, just this one will do. _'What a waste, but oh well...'_ she thought and took aim. "But now that you knew my secret, I guess I will just have to dispose all of you," she said and fired the weapon.

-z-z-

The moment Fouquet's missile launcher came to life, Zero's systems detected its presence. It was such an unbelievable turn of event that he paused and checked with his systems again. By then, the thief had gained a lock onto them and was prepared to fire. With no further hesitation, he acted.

Zero drew his Z-saber from his waist and shouted, "Get down!" A millisecond later, three missiles were fired. He activated his trusted beam weapon and dashed forward. Just like when he was holding the missile launcher, his runes started glowing white as soon as his Z-saber was activated. His overall senses got sharpen and his body was flooded with a surge of power. The only difference this time was that he felt even more power. He felt like he was in top shape and was ready to take on Omega (and Dark Elf)...

In a fraction of a second, Zero had covered half the distance between the girls and Fouquet. It was there where he was readying himself to intercept the incoming missiles. With his senses going overdrive, the legend managed to analyze the missile's structure. He then proceeded to surgically remove the warhead from the rest of the device with a quick and precise slash. Doing so would render the missile unable to detonate and alter its trajectory, effectively making them harmless. The first two missiles went just as planned but then his runes suddenly glowed brighter...

# Fragmented DNA data detected. Analyzing...

A system report forced its way to his processor just when he was ready to face the third missile. Such turn of event caused the legendary hunter to slash one millimeter off of his target. One millimeter off was too much of an error. The missile detonated in the hunter's face with blinding light and intense heat...

-z-z-

Tabitha managed to cast barriers for both Louise and herself upon hearing Zero's urgent command. Unfortunately, such hastily set up defense was no match for the shock wave that followed and they were both sent flying. The girls flew a few meters back and landed on their head, knocking them unconscious.

From behind a large tree trunk, Fouquet poked her head out and observed her adversaries. The two girls were knocked out and the familiar was nowhere in sight. Well, considering there was a huge crater on the ground where that explosion occurred, she had a pretty good idea what happened to him. The thief smirked and walked out into the clearing. _'The Staff of Destruction certainly live up to its name.'_

From a distance, Fouquet saw the second 'Staff of Destruction' lying on the ground near the ice mage. She can't believe her luck and rushed over. She was prepared to not seeing the other 'Staff of Destruction' ever again when she used her 'staff' on them. Perhaps their vain struggles had somehow saved this 'staff' from destruction. The thief picked up the 'staff' by the blue hair girl and inspects its condition. It was undamaged. "Oh my, this certainly is my lucky day," she laughed and started putting the weapons away. When she was done, she turned her attention to the two unconscious girls. "Sorry kids. Nothing personal. It's just business," whispered Fouquet as she raised her wand.

"And so it was," came a solemn reply from right behind her.

Fouquet's eyes went wide as she realized the familiar had not only survived, he was standing right behind her! The thief reflexively turned around and prepared to jump away, but it was too late. Something hit the back of her head, and her vision started to fade. The last thing she remembered seeing was a flash of glowing green and a translucent mass of golden silks. Then her vision faded, and she lost all consciousness.

Zero silently stood with his back facing the now unconscious Fouquet, and for a second, he simply stood there. His hair was unbounded, and whatever normal clothes he wore before the fight were now completely gone. His black jump suit was torn all over, and there were many open wounds and nasty gashes throughout his body. Red, blood-like substance was flowing out from many of his wounds. All in all, he had took quite a beating. Despite the damage, he didn't feel much pain and much of those wounds had already begun repairing themselves.

The runes on his hand kept glowing brighter and the reploid felt strangely calm, almost as if he was in a trance. Deep down though, he knew something wasn't right. He just took an anti-ride-armor missile head-on without his armor. Even if he was still in one piece, he should feel a lot of pain...

He looked at the glowing runes on his left hand. He figured the power surge was the work of his runes. It should be a good thing, but somehow, he had a feeling that things wouldn't be so simple...

And just like what he thought, the runes on his left hand began changing color. It started off with a tint of light pink but then darkened into a deep purple quickly. Power of ten times the intensity or more suddenly coursed through his body. His wounds were disappearing quickly, battle systems of both old and new suddenly became active and started forming links, and he felt invincible. The only problem he had was that he was losing control of himself. Something was trying to takeover: something evil, something he thought he had already gotten rid of a century ago...

The reploid fought to maintain control and managed to turn off his Z-saber. The instant he did that, the runes stopped glowing and whatever energy surge he felt previously suddenly evaporated. The real pain of being hit by a high-grade explosive made itself known to the hunter and he nearly drop to his knees.

Quickly, the reploid ran a status check on his main systems. There were no signs of a viral infection of any kind. There was no trace that his personality matrix had been tamper with either. Perhaps the whole feeling of losing control was just his imagination, but it was so...surreal. The rest of the report consisted of both external and internal injuries he had taken with that attack. Many flesh wounds had already healed or all sealed up, but many internal fractures remained. Now that he took a glimpse of that report, he was amazed he was not knocked unconscious or crippled. In any case, he will have to run a full diagnostic test later, just to make sure...

A flash of lightning followed by a crackle of thunder got the reploid's attention. Wind was beginning to blow and the reploid surveyed the sky and his surrounding. This place was about to rain and he got three unconscious humans lying on the ground. The cabin was destroyed during the fight, and there's no shelter of any kind nearby...

After a second or so, he decided to carry them back to their wagon parked at the outskirt of this forest. It will be about half an hour track. Hopefully, it would not start raining until he got them there. The reploid gathered the girls together along with the boxes containing their mission objective. Then he remembered something important. He opened the two boxes containing the missile launchers and took them out. The hunter expertly popped a socket out of each weapon and took out their respective energy core. Without these, the weapon won't fire and the ammos inside wouldn't detonate, rendering them harmless. He quickly popped the weapon back together and put them back in their respective boxes.

The next order of business was to carry all three of them out of this forest. That is where he encounters his next set of problems: How to carry three unconscious human and their belongings with his body. The weight is not a problem but...

The reploid looked around to see if there was anything to that could help. He spotted some overgrown vines around some trees from a distance. An idea hit him, and he started gathering the vines to make a rope. Once he was done, he used the rope to secure Louise and Tabitha's staff on his back.

"...That may not be such a good idea, partner," came Derflinger's comment with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Zero, not paying much attention and somewhat irritated, said, "What? It's about to rain and I needed to get them out of here."

"Never mind, partner, do as you please..."

Thinking it was nothing important, Zero shrugged and proceeded to load himself up. With one woman on each of his arm and each of his hand grabbed onto a box containing the now harmless 'Staff of Destruction', he started walking awkwardly out of the forest...

* * *

Halfway to their destination, Tabitha started to stir. Moments later, the girl opened her eyes and found herself being carried like a sack of potatoes on Zero's arm. Soon after, Zero stopped and set the girl on her feet.

It took Tabitha a few seconds to get her bearing. After that, she looked at Zero: Torn clothes and dry 'blood'. It must have been tough subduing Fouquet and she was no help at all. She underestimated that thief and almost...

"Sorry...Zero," said the ice mage, lowing her head.

"Hmm? If it was about Fouquet, don't worry about it. Everyone is safe and that is what counts."

"...Thank you." Tabitha whispered, still looking at the ground and avoiding his gaze.

"There's no need to thank me. I am just doing my job," he answered. Actually, he felt bad for letting things play out the way they did and put the girls in more danger than necessary.

The reploid stopped dwelling in the past and started focusing on the present. He sensed that the blue hair girl was still not very comfortable with his answer, and so after a bit of thinking, he added, "Hmm, if you really wanted to thank me, I would like you to do me a favor."

"...?" Tabitha looked up to his face for the first time, and she looked at him quizzically.

"Please take the credit for capturing Fouquet," he said, smiling.

"Zero?" She stared at him as if she just heard the most incredulous thing.

"You see, Tabitha, everyone thinks I am a commoner. If you suddenly tell them a commoner like me managed to capture a thief like Fouquet, no one would believe it. In fact, they might use this opportunity to stir things up. You know how some of the students in the academy are. That is just too much trouble," he explained.

Tabitha listened as Zero explained his reasons. She studied Zero's expression and found sincerity in his answers. She could understand why he wanted to avoid getting the attention but... She was about to gave her answer to his request when she spotted something. Some green vines were wrapped around Louise and bind her to him. The blue hair girl frowned, "...Zero-"

When Zero saw the girl's frown, he thought she was preparing to turn down his request, and so he added, "Look, I know my request may be a little selfish, but I really don't want the atten-"

"Poison ivies." Tabitha cut him off and pointed at the green vines wrapping around Louise's body.

". . . ." The reploid's eyes started growing wide, and he stole a quick glance at Louise. She was still unconscious, looking cute and sweet; like an 'angel'. Then his eyes shifted to her forearms and wrists in which his makeshift rope was currently in contact with her exposed skin. A tiny red rash was starting to form there, and a sense of dread was quickly developing within him. Quickly, he got rid of his makeshift rope that bounded Louise to him and then took a look at her unconscious form. She looked so peaceful at the moment but he knew this 'sweet little angel' will turn into a 'feisty little devil' should she ever learns the truth behind those rashes...

The reploid turned to Tabitha a second later and said, "Let's not tell her about it..."

* * *

Rain started to fall just when Zero reaches their wagon. It's also where he found Sylphid and Kirche. Apparently, the redhead hadn't recovered for her little slip. While he set up a cover for the wagon, Tabitha helped him put Louise and Kirche inside. Then he searched for a rope to tie up Fouquet. When he was done and got the thief inside, he stood in the rain to clean himself off before climbing inside to join them.

It took a while, but both Kirche and Louise came back to their senses. The first thing on their mind was Fouquet. As Zero began explaining what happen, Tabitha was sitting quietly in a corner reading a book. The version in which Zero told of Tabitha's bravely in taking down Fouquet while he was running around giving out minor support was a complete lie of course, but both Kirche and Louise never question his story.

While they wait for the rain to pass, Kirche sat next to Tabitha and was posing all kinds of questions and praises to the quiet girl. While Tabitha was trying hard to ignore her nosy friend, Louise was having quite a problem of her own. There was this itch on her that just wouldn't go away. Actually, there were many itches all over her body, from her thighs to her arms and her wrists. She was trying hard not to scratch them, especially around the more embarrassing area like her thighs. She is a lady after all; she had an image to keep! But this itch, this damn itch...

"What's wrong, Louise?" Zero asked as he notice the girl squirming in around her seat.

"...an itch..." came a low groan form her. Then she squirmed around some more, trying hard to get comfortable. She was clearly annoyed.

"Huh?" Not understanding her plight - or realizing her mood - he asked again.

Louise, who was at the limit of what she could take, exploded. "There is this damn itch that just wouldn't go away!" she screamed and started scratching. Once she started, she wasn't able to hold back and started scratching all over...

Louise's sudden outburst got the attention of both Tabitha and Kirche, and they both looked her way. Suddenly having a new target to tease, the 'queen of mischief' decided to leave Tabitha's side for the moment and started pestering her new victim. Zero, on the other hand, backed off and turned to Tabitha immediately. His eyes widened at Louise's outburst as he stared the blue hair girl. A mixture of nervousness and fear dominated his facial expression.

Tabitha didn't miss the pair of puppy eyes that Zero was currently giving her, pleading to her to stay silent. It was hard to believe this was the same person who just took down Fouquet all by himself. Right now, he looked so pathetic that the Chevalier couldn't help but started giggling.

When Tabitha suddenly burst into fit of giggles, Kirche immediately got curious. After all, that was not how her blue haired friend usually acts. What could possibly got her this way, she thought. The redhead left Louise's side and went next to Tabitha to investigate. "Hey, what so funny, Tabitha? You can tell me."

The girl in question let loose a few more giggles before shaking her head. Then she fell silent but remain smiling. Zero breathed a sigh of relieve. Meanwhile, Kirche frowned and began pestering the blue hair girl; Louise was sitting in a corner sulking and trying hard not to scratch but failing miserably...

The rain outside finally began to die down, and the reploid volunteered himself to drive them home. Well, he '_is_' a commoner and they are nobles. It's simply his job to do such labor; not to mention, he '_is_' her familiar... Despite this being his first time driving a wagon, he figured he'll somehow manage. He had spent enough time watching others doing it that he was able to pickup some of their techniques. Of course that didn't mean he was an expert either, but he should have enough to get by. But really, the reason he volunteered himself for the job was because he didn't want to face an agitated Louise inside while putting on some distance between him and her...

Chapter End

* * *

AN: The biggest challenge writing this chapter was to make sure Fouquet didn't become too dangerous so Zero would not step in. At the same time, she needed to push them to use the staff of destruction somehow. I got admit, there are many flaws here. However, the priority is the 'botany' event. Without that, there is little reason for such chapter.

My ultimate goal here is poison ivy; so right off the bat, I needed to knock out all the girls in one shot. But then, Sylphid's presence will hinder my goal and Kirche isn't helping so they were sent away first… Most of this chapter consists of one huge fight that was broken into many segments. Many of those segments aren't even important. Some are there just because of my respect for these characters while others are there to push toward certain goals and a few were influenced when I re-watched the episode. Things like the 'Rainbow Onyx' were added in really late just to smooth things over. The idea of deactivating missiles with a single slash came from 'Zero the Soul of a Hero'.

The other important event in here was the runes. Derflinger, unfortunately, was more of a nuisance here. Anyway, I now got the excuse to use all kinds of techniques from the X series. Hahaha…

Replies:

Redripper666: ANs are just fun little background info that may or may not clarify things. You don't have to read them.

Speaking of clearing things up, ever wonders why Zero made the poison ivy mess (or the potential he could make such mistakes)? Well, you will have to put yourself in his shoe for a second (amnesia, inexperience, etc.). As for having 2 staff of destructions, it will be explained in next chapter, involving human error (because I can't come up with a better excuse). Finally, I am sure some of you are wondering what exactly does it takes to stop this Zero. Well, think Z3 missile crisis. You'll need something like that to slow him down.

xbox432: … Siesta exposing Zero's magic tricks _was_ accidental. Sorry if my wording misled you into believing otherwise. LOL

Arc-Angel-Of-Fire: I don't know what so offending about Louise's fireball spell. It was just a mean to help Fouquet robbing that place but whatever. I am not bothered. ^_^

pltrgst: Magic trick _was_ random bs. Letting Fouquet escape last chapter was a little bit of underestimating his opponent and a calculated move. And which skill exactly in x6 and do what with such skill. Anyway, Zero here has the same mindset as last chapter, so lame again I guess. LOL Remember, Zero does has his own mission in this world and that do not include getting famous. May want to read the following reply as well.

serialkeller: 1) Well, he was exposed. What else was he suppose to do? 2) Zero's mindset was explained near the end of this chapter. Low profile is the key. Hopefully that clears things up. Every action or inaction has consequences. Remember how much unwanted attentions he got after defeating Guiche? Imagine how much more of that he would get if he had apprehended Fouquet earlier. Right now, he could still hide behind Tabitha; his official record was defeating a dot mage only.

: Hmm…but that will marginalize FoZ's world. Technologies cannot be obtain overnight especially in a backwater world like this. You will need many pieces of equipments and personals from Zero's world. By the time you do get enough of them here, people like Joseph, Henrietta, Wales or their respective countries/countrymen no longer mean anything. It will be like Columbus vs Native Americans - aka colonization. Zero is no help in situations like these. Finding Zero a strong foe was never the aim here, nor balancing out his power. "The story while different is going to stick to a lot of the main plot points of Familiar of Zero, because I've been able to figure out ways to keep the events happening in a rational way." – Blade of Void. Very admirable, which is what I am trying to fulfill here since there are so many holes in the 16 or so chapters that I read from that one…

That's it for now, and it'll take a while for the next one. After that, I can finally start playing with Mott. Oh poor Mott, MUAWHAHAHAHAHA…


	11. Chapter 11

AN: *Sigh*, this was a tough one. Anyway this is one version of how things go for now.

* * *

Chapter 10: An Ambiguous Game of Counter Intelligence &amp; A Case of Weapon's Inferior Complex

"Aah, a-a little...harder. Th-that's the spot, y-yes. Aaahh," Louise screamed, and then fell onto her bed panting. Soon, she fell asleep.

After Siesta tucked Louise in, she walked to the door where Zero was. The reploid opened the door for her, and they both got outside.

-z-z-

"That was some amazing skill you got back there, Siesta. Where did you learn it from?" commended Zero as he walked the maid back to her dorm.

Ever since the whole 'poison ivy' incident a few days ago, the reploid had been stuck tending to a sick and cranky Louise. It appears her body didn't take the poisonous plant too well and developed a high fever - not to mention those itchy rashes. Since he was largely responsible for her current suffering, he had been spending most of his time taking care of her, satisfying her needs. For the most part, she simply stayed in bed and moaned about her misfortunes. After a couple of days, her fever had gone down considerably. However, being bedridden for so long have left her body aching all over; her crankiness, in turns, have been shot up through the roof. Taking care of her at this point had been near impossible. Luckily, he ran across Siesta, and she turned out to be invaluable. Although, he was still quite surprised of that particular skill of hers...

Siesta's face turned beat red as she replied, "Oh that was nothing special, Zero-san." The maid sobered up a moment later and explained, "It was just a simple massaging technique pass down from our family. By pressing a few pressure points in certain combinations, one could relieve a person's built-up stress." Halfway explaining the process, the maid's face grew even redder than before. While she was proud of her family's 'secret technique', she was still very much embarrassed of the ways people react to her 'gentle treatment'. Because of that, not too many people knew she had this particular skill...

"Hmm... That's quite an interesting technique, Siesta. You think you could teach me?"

"Oh, Zero-san, you are flattering me," she said, very embarrassed; but then, she noticed her blond hair friend was staring at her intently. "...You are not really serious about this are you?" she asked, her tone turning serious as blood started to drain away from her face. He continued staring at her while smiling warmly. "Zero-san, pressure points are very delicate. If you don't know what you are doing, you may end up hurting someone," she lectured. Given his past inconsistence display of strength while doing laundries, she had very a good reason to worry. Destroying clothes was one thing, but breaking bones...

"That's why I am asking an experienced '_master_' like you to teach me, Siesta," said the reploid, stopping in front of her room.

"If this is about Miss Louise's demand, I can-"

"No, it's not about that. I simply wanted to learn something new. Learning something new is always nice," said Zero, smiling warmly. _'Plus, you never know when such a skill may come in handy...'_ For a second, his smile turned into devilish. Then, he realized the maid was staring, and so the reploid quickly turned his charm back on. "Not to mention, you are not always around so it's best that I'll be ready when the situation call for it," he explained, smiling.

"..." Somehow, she sensed there was more than just that... "Alright, I will teach you," she conceded finally. Well, it was not like she was forbidden to pass on such techniques; and from the looks he had, it's better to give him a few pointers and lessons while she had the chance than to let him conduct 'experiments' on his own as she had no doubt he will surely tries to later on...

"Thank you, Siesta."

"But you have to promise me that you will not use it until I say you are ready." He nodded and she sighed. She opened the door to her room and went inside. She was ready to end their conversation and go to bed, but curiosity got the better of her. She turned around and asked, "Why are you so insisting on learning this anyway?"

"Why, for self defense of course," he laughed wholeheartedly.

"Zero-san!" Siesta glared.

"Just kidding," he smiled and waved goodnight to her.

* * *

After Zero walked Siesta back to her dorm, the reploid went back to Louise's room and check upon her condition. Satisfied that her fever was pretty much gone and that she was blissfully asleep on her bed, he grabbed Derflinger and stepped out of the room. Once he was out, he began organizing his thoughts.

It had been a few days since the return of those 'Stave of Destruction', and the answers he got from the academy staffs had been less than satisfactory. He was left more questions than answers...

-Flashback Start-

_By the time Zero and the rest of the girls arrived back to the academy's front gate, it was starting to get dark. Regardless, a small team of academy staffs and common guards were ready to receive them. And apparently, Colbert was leading them..._

"_How did it go? Did you recover the 'Staff of Destruction'?" asked Colbert. He was looking straight at Zero who was clumsily trying to get the two horses to stop properly._

'_Well, he certainly seems eager...' the reploid observed. Before he could answer, a certain redhead burst out of the wagon and answered for him._

"_Humph, was there ever any doubt!?" Kirche exclaimed as she exited the wagon. Following her, Tabitha exited the carriage, carrying two boxes. Lastly, a wobbly Louise managed to stumble out of the cart..._

"_What about Fouquet? Did you catch her?" asked another professor._

'_This one seemed eager too,' Zero noted, somewhat amused. He got off the carriage while studying him a little further. 'Although, for a different reason, probably...' he thought._

"_Of course-"_

"_Where?" the professor asked impatiently._

_Being rudely interrupted, Kirche humph-ed at the professor before wrapping her arms around Zero's and resting her head on his shoulder. Then, she pointed at the wagon._

_The professor gathered a few armed guards and approaches the wagon with caution. He torn open the tent and found an unconscious green haired woman tied up inside. He took a closer look. "...Miss Longueville? What is the meaning-"_

"_Fouquet." Tabitha calmly explained. Every staff member present was shocked to hear the news._

"_That's right. She is the infamous thief, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt," Kirche added while tightening her hold on Zero's arm and ignored a few comments that corrected her on the thief's name. Like usual, the redhead was just trying to get her hero's attention...and everyone else's too, while she's at it..._

_Satisfied with the answer, the professor ordered the armed guards to take Fouquet away. He then, followed the men to make sure everything was done correctly. It was almost as if he thought such action could make up for the fact that he bailed when called upon on to catch that thief in the first place, the hunter mused._

_Once Fouquet was taken away, Colbert turned toward the Zero and the rest of the girls and said, "The headmaster would like to hear from you all. Please come with me."_

_Halfway to the headmaster's office, Louise suddenly collapsed. "Louise, are you alright?" Zero was by her side almost instantly._

"_What's wrong, Miss Vallière?" asked the professor. He was kneeling by the girl's side a moment later._

"_I am fine," Louise responded. Her breathing was somewhat erratic... _

_Tabitha walked over to Louise and placed a hand over the girl's forehead. "High fever," she said._

_-z-z-_

_Despite Louise's adamant protest, she was sent to the infirmary, while Zero, Kirche and Tabitha were summoned to the headmaster's office. Just like last time the reploid was in the room, many professors were present. However, the headmaster was sitting behind his desk this time instead of standing among his staffs._

"_I heard you have managed to capture Fouquet and brought back the Staff of Destruction," the headmaster began. "Good jo-"_

"_Yeah and the thief turned out to be Miss Longueville too," Kirche replied, rolling her eyes and causing a great amount of commotion among the staffs._

"_What?! Miss Longueville was Fouquet the Crumbling Earth?!"_

"_How did someone like her managed to become the headmaster's secretary?"_

"_W-who hire her?"_

_Osmond watched his staff members decent into a chaos frenzy of blame game and can't help but sighed. "... I did," he admitted some seconds later, trying to quell the unrest. His plan to settle the issue didn't went as planned as his staffs looked at him in shock instead. As their questioning eyes grew and grew, the old mage said, "I met her in a tavern where she was working as a waitress back then." More heated stares were going his way and the headmaster was leaning further back in his chair as he explains. "Look, she was such a pretty looking girl working in such unsightly place that I cannot help but feel sorry for her." More glares. "Uh, I mean um, you got to feel sorry for an innocent looking girl working in a place where she have to smile day in and day out even if customers would bump into her and attempt to touch her in varies places! Don't call yourself a man if you don't feel anything!" the headmaster declared._

'_Except, she was not innocent...at all,' thought the reploid. He expected more heated glares were to be given, but amazingly, a number of professors were beginning to side with the headmaster. 'Looks like we got quite a few 'lecherous worms' in the room...'_

"_Anyway, enough with Miss Longueville's past history. What I wanted to know is how you manage to capture Fouquet. And did you recover the Staff of Destruction?"_

_Tabitha opened one box containing the Staff of Destruction and every staff member swarmed her. While her friend was being swarmed, Kirche began explaining to the headmaster how they managed to capture Fouquet..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

"_And that is how we manage to capture Fouquet," said Zero, finishing his recap of the event. Since Kirche was only there for part of the fight and Tabitha's communication skill was...'inadequate', Zero was ultimately the one doing most of talking. Of course that meant a number of facts were twisted while the girls were glorified. Missing 'details' were abound, and his role was diminished quite significantly. In fact, if Kirche hadn't mentioned his ability to fight off a number of Fouquet's golem soldiers, he would have skipped that 'minor detail' as well. At present, he simply portrayed himself as someone who was barely able to fend off the thief's magic. Nonetheless, the staffs simply listened and accepted his version of the story - except for two that is..._

_The hard part came when explaining Kirche's...'early exit', to which she blamed it entirely on Louise. He did nothing to defend his pink haired master but did give her a few credits here and there..._

"_Thank you for your report. Does anyone have any question?" asked the headmaster, staring at a number of his staffs. Most of them were looking around and at each other. For the most part, they were satisfied with the commoner's report - even if it was filled with flaws. In fact, if one was to examine his words closely, one would have found many inconsistencies..._

_After a while of looking at one another, one professor stepped up and asked, "How were you able to use the Staff of Destruction, since..." He pause mid-sentence and stared squarely at the familiar. "...you have no magical power?" _

"_Ahhh," Zero said, smiling while giving it some thoughts. "The 'Staff of Destruction' was...a 'unique artifact' originated from er...'our country'. It doesn't require any magical power to use," he answered. Unfortunately, his use of the 'Staff of Destruction' was too big of a 'detail' to dismiss since Louise was a witness. However, Fouquet's use of the 'Staff' was an entirely different story. Since the thief was the only witness to that event and her credential was in ruin because of who she is, he was able to frame it however he wanted - as long as Tabitha doesn't do anything to contradict him that is..._

_Regardless, that slightly sharper professor seemed strangely satisfied with his answer and things moved on..._

"_Alright, does anyone else have a question?" said the headmaster. Once again, his staff members looked at one another but none of them said any more._

_Just as the headmaster was about to dismiss the crowd, Zero spoke, "I have a question I would like to ask, Headmaster Osmond, if you don't mind answering."_

"_What is it...Mr. Zero?"_

"_Why didn't you inform us that there was a 'second' 'Staff of Destruction'?" he said. Although he acknowledged he was mostly to blame for the not-so-pretty outcome, he was positive he could have done a much better job had he knew there was a second missile launcher. And he was positive he had informed them about the thief carrying two boxes on the day of her crime. He initially thought the other item was unimportant and not worth mentioning when they brief them of their mission, but now..._

"_There was a second Staff of Destruction?!" exclaimed Colbert and many other professors were once again whispering among themselves and looking at each other in shock. Even the headmaster looked like he was caught without his pant._

"_...You guys really didn't know did you?" Zero sighed and started shaking his head. A headache was quickly developing and he started rubbing his temple; for he really 'is' dealing with a bunch of idiots..._

_Many professors demanded to see the other 'Staff of Destruction'. Tabitha opened the box for them, and inside contained the second 'Staff of Destruction' - or an useless ornament at this point..._

_What followed after the mentioning of a second 'Staff of Destruction' was like watching a bunch of kids getting something cool for their birthday present. They were all over it. It was quite an amusing sight but the headmaster wasn't exactly sharing their excitements. He cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, enough!" When his staffs stopped acting like a bunch of children, he sighed and said, "Thank you for your report, Miss Zerbst, Miss Tabitha and...Mr. Zero." He turned to the rest of his staffs. "Professor Randy and Professor Oxford, please see to that the 'Stave of Destruction' are place back inside our vault. Professor Monrsee and Professor Kooper, you two will be in charge of handling Fouquet and her transfer to the royal prison early tomorrow. The rest of you are dismissed." As the headmaster's staffs were leaving his office one after another, the headmaster suddenly called out, "Professor Colbert, would you please stay for a moment. I wish to have a word with you."_

_Following the other professors, both Kirche and Tabitha were lining up to leave the headmaster's office. Zero, however, silently went up to the headmaster's desk instead. "Excuse me Headmaster Osmond," he said quietly. "I have a few more questions that I would like to ask if you got the time." The headmaster nodded and he continued, "From my understanding, these...'Stave' are not suppose to leave our...'country'. How exactly did you obtain them in the first place?"_

_After looking into Zero's eyes for a few second, Osmond sighed and began to explain. "The two Stave of Destruction were a memento from a man I knew. He saved my life." He paused and looked at the familiar, who simply stare back with a poker face. "It has been almost thirty years now," the headmaster continued. "At the time, I was ambushed by a dangerous beast. I fought back but my spells were ineffective against it. I thought that was the end of me back then; but suddenly, out of the blue there was this huge explosion on the back of the beast, killing it almost instantly. I looked to the source and found a man holding onto a strange weapon. He wore some kind of strange armor that I have never seen before and was seriously wounded. I brought him to the academy and took care of him, but..."_

"_So he died."_

_The headmaster nodded. "In the end, I wasn't able to figure out who he was or where he came from. The man had two Stave of Destruction. I presented one to the palace. The other one that he used to save me was buried together along with the man in his grave."_

_The fact that he had recovered two 'Stave' meant either Fouquet had been doing some grave digging before she rob this place for the same 'Staff' or the second 'Staff' was somehow never buried to begin with and was simply forgotten, laying in that vault for all these years. 'What kind of inventory job had these people been doing?' Zero thought. He was ninety-nine percent sure which case this had fallen into. With revelations such as these, his opinion of these people was solidified: they were a bunch of morons, every single one of them._

"_Final question, headmaster. Where was he buried?" When Colbert was giving him a dirty stare, he smiled innocently and clarified, "I like to visit his grave and pay him my respect. After all, he was my...'fellow countryman'."_

_After a few second of staring into the familiar's eyes and trying to read what was behind his mask, the headmaster finally conceded. "He was buried at..."_

-Flashback End-

The reploid looked upon the beautiful night sky of Halkeginia. _'The night is still young...'_ he thought. Regardless, he decided that tonight would be a perfect time to seek out some of those answers, and he knew exactly where to find them.

* * *

"Will he really come, Headmaster?" Professor Colbert murmured to no one in particular. He had been staking out at the cemetery every night ever since the headmaster gave the familiar the grave site of a hero that saved the old mage's life years ago.

Having had an idea of what the familiar might do, the old headmaster had a fake tomb built on an empty plot. It was a grand tomb: twice as tall as any others, made with white marble, and located in the most visible area of the cemetery. Anyone who entered this place will definitely see it. He asked Colbert to wait for the familiar here. So far, the professor's wait had been fruitless...

Just as Professor Colbert thought this would be another fruitless night, he suddenly saw someone coming. The mage quickly scurried away and hid behind some trees. With the two huge moons of Halkeginia illuminating the area, he was able to vaguely see the figure had very long hair...

The figure stopped and stood over the grand tomb the old headmaster constructed a few days ago. After a second or so, however, the figure moved away and went searching other tombstones. The figure finally stopped over a small discrete and nameless tomb - where the actual savior of the headmaster lies. Strangely, the figure began to strip and place his clothes a little to the side. He then stood silently over the headstone for a couple of seconds before he started pounding the ground with his fists. After the initial few punches, he started to remove soil...with his bare hands it appears.

'_Just like what the headmaster predicted,'_ thought Colbert. He was ready to go out and confront the grave digger, but then someone tapped Colbert's shoulder from behind. He turned around in almost blind panic only to find the headmaster standing behind him. The older mage signaled him to stay silent and observe...

-z-z-

When Zero arrived at the cemetery, he immediately saw this grand tombstone sitting in the middle of the cemetery. The headstone was carved from white marble and looked very new. A memorial was written across it with huge golden letters: 'In here lies a great hero who once wore the Staff of Destruction.' Aside from that, the soil surrounding it appeared a little loose... The reploid looked at the grave for a second, shook his head and then moved on to look around some more.

It took him a while, but he found a headstone that reads: 'In here lies a great man who once saved another's.' Unlike the previous grave, this one was located in a more discrete part of the cemetery. The tomb was more modest looking and the headstone appeared more like it had been out sitting in the element for decades.

After a short prayer, the reploid stripped and began his work. A few punches to soften the soil and he was ready to dig. It didn't take him long to go through a couple feet of soil. Soon, he hit upon what he came for: a casket. Carefully, he removed the surrounding soil until the entire coffin was in full view. He then took his time to examine it a little further. It was a wooden coffin with an intricate design patterns and was fairly large. Nails on the coffin lid seemed to be intact too. Just as he suspected, there was no sign it'd been disturbed. Using his reploid strength, he ripped the coffin lid open. Inside laid the remains of a human and other burial objects.

Although badly damaged, the 'other worldly' body armor and jump suit that the headmaster spoke of was plain in sight, folded neatly beside the man. He knew he have hit the jackpot then. There were also a few pieces of jewelries here and there that were likely from this world but no 'Staff of Destruction'. The reploid ignored stuffs from this world and focused on things from his home world, particularly a specific object issues to soldiers...

It took a while, but he found it. A short metal stick attached to a metal chain, the man's military 'dog tag', was found inside one of the pockets of his worn jump suit. The reploid quickly scanned the data containing inside.

# Name: Pierrot Walker

# Race: Human

# Unit: Maverick Hunter - Unit 17

# Hunter ID: 00192837565H22XXEWY4

# Military Rank: First Lieutenant

# Hunter Rank: Class B

Although Zero had no memory of such person, he felt a strong urge to pay this person his respect. The reploid put the 'dog tag' around the man's neck and saluted him. After giving the deceased a couple seconds of silence, the reploid placed the coffin lid over the casket and seal it back up as best as he can. He then climbed back out of the grave.

As Zero was about to rebury his former comrade, he suddenly remembered something. "Headmaster Osmond, Professor Colbert," said the legendary hunter suddenly. Smirking, he slowly turned his head in the direction of the two professors. "How long are you two going to stand there and watch?"

"Oh, ho, ho, I guess we just can't hide from you," laughed the headmaster as he calmly walked out from behind a tree.

Colbert followed suit soon after. Unlike his superior, however, he was a little shaken that he was caught. "When did you notice we were watching?" asked the professor.

"Why, in your case, the moment I step through the front gate, professor," the reploid replied honestly and casually, smirking all the while. The reaction he got from Colbert was simply amusing. "As for the headmaster...let's just say you needed to fly even higher if you wish to follow me unnoticed."

Amazed, the headmaster laughed wholeheartedly. After a few seconds of laughing, he finally sobered up and asked, "So, what exactly were you doing in my savior's grave?"

The reploid sighed. "I'll answer your questions, headmaster, but first..." He paused, his expression turning serious for a second. Then... "Does anyone want to give me a helping hand?" He smiled and pointed at the dug out grave, his tone much more relaxed. The sudden change caused Colbert to almost stumble, and the headmaster chuckled quite a bit.

As the reploid was about to rebury the grave himself, the headmaster raised his staff. A short incarnation later and the surrounding earth around the open grave simply closed up on its own. "Let's talk once we arrive back at my office," said the headmaster. Colbert then gestured the familiar to walk first.

Zero grabbed his discarded clothes and took their invitation and started walking out of the cemetery while the two mages followed closely behind. "Oh by the way, headmaster," said Zero, suddenly turning around and pointing at the nameless grave that he just dug up. "His name is Pierrot Walker, Maverick Hunter Class B and First Lieutenant of Unit 17th Elite Taskforce."

* * *

"So, what is it that you wanted to know, Headmaster Osmond?"

"Hmm... I guess first and for most, who were you exactly and what kind of relationship do you have with my savior...Mister Pierrot that you needed to dug up his grave?" said Osmond.

"I am Zero, a Maverick Hunter just like him...or was a Maverick Hunter..." He paused and thought some more. "It's complicated," he muttered, giving up trying to explain everything. It's simply too complicated, so much so that they may not comprehend even after a full explanation. Then there is the issue of how much trust he should place on them...

Ultimately, he decided that it's not exactly in his best interest to simply give away information about himself or his world. Instead, he chose the wait and see approach. It's more interesting that way. Not to mention, this will allow him to gauge how much they already know; and thus make it easier for him to provide 'appropriate responses' when necessary. After pausing for a second or so, he looked back at them and spoke, "Anyway, I dug up his grave to confirm his identity."

"...What is a Maverick Hunter?" Colbert asked out of curiosity.

"Maverick Hunters...Hmm..." Zero thought for a moment before responding, "Maverick Hunters are basically a task force that keeps peace in society from certain...'extreme elements'..."

"Extreme elements?"

"Things like the murder of innocents, senseless destruction of properties. You know; the usual."

"This sounded like a job for City Patrols," commented Colbert.

"City Patrols?" Zero raised an eyebrow and Colbert proceeded to explain that it was basically some sort of police task force.

Osmond brought his hands together while he listened. Something didn't quite add up. The familiar's answer may explain why he is such a seasoned fighter but his ability far surpass seasoned... Then there was the idea that 'Maverick Hunters' being just like city patrols... _'What kind of city patrols would need to carry around weapons as powerful as the Staff of Destruction?'_ he thought. _'Unless...'_

As Osmond studied the familiar, he suddenly recalled something Colbert had told him earlier which totally contradicts with the current story he's hearing. Granted the familiar may have lied previously, the headmaster decided to bring up such point and see what kind of reaction he would get. "Professor Colbert had informed me some time ago that you were fighting against a tyrant and that you were from a far away place call Neo...Neo-"

"Neo-Arcadia," Zero answered. He sighed. This was definitely not a subject he would like to talk about - mostly because they wouldn't be able to understand it anyway and then there was this 'treason thing'... After a few seconds of deliberation, he shrugged. "Well, at some point, I quit the Hunters and joined the resistance. It turned out the former ruler was replaced by a fake, and a madman later seized power from him," he said as if he was talking about the weather.

"Horrible! That would lead to a civil war!" exclaimed Colbert.

Zero took his eyes off of the headmaster for a second and regarded Colbert, who seemed to be painting his own picture about Zero's world...

'_So he's sticking with his original story huh...'_ thought Osmond as he stared at the familiar. _'If what he said is true, then he had been involved with some serious warfare, which explains his skills and general attitude toward danger, but...'_

Base on the equipments used by his former savior, the headmaster concluded the Maverick Hunters weren't just some typical law enforcers. They were probably more like an actual army. He shudders to think what kind of barbaric society they lived in... Regardless, something still doesn't fit. Given his savior had died over thirty years ago serving as a 'Maverick Hunter' and the familiar had basically committed treason by joining opposite side, why had he paid his respect at the grave site...unless that strange pose he did wasn't a sign of respect but...

The headmaster tried to digest the familiar's story. He can't. There were too many anomalies; it was as if he had been led around. The headmaster cleared his thoughts and reorganized his thinking. _'The runes...'_ the headmaster thought. Everything the familiar have said so far may have been lies, but the runes on the back of his hand speak for itself. And it spoke in volume. Hakai no Kami, the God of Destruction, that's what he's really interested in and wanted to find out...

Once again, the headmaster studied the familiar's facial expression carefully. The old mage wasn't able to pickup anything. The familiar's poker face was too hard to read. Beating around the bush clearly doesn't work with this one. Since the blond haired familiar was willing to calmly talk about his past, Osmond decided to take his chance. "Hmm...Pardon me if I am wrong, but your fighting ability exceed that of any human I have known. What exactly are you?" the headmaster said, carefully making sure that he came across as being merely curious. Even so, his subordinate tensed a bit.

'_Ahh, so they already suspected it. Well, I guess there's no point hiding it then,'_ he thought. "You have very sharp eyes, headmaster," he responded. His voice was low and dangerous as he stared right into the headmaster's eyes. At the same time, he ignored Colbert who had tightened his grip on his staff and was ready to cast a spell should things go wrong. The reploid kept studying the headmaster's reaction. For the most part, he was met with a poker face. The tense atmosphere lasted for about two seconds and was almost too great for Colbert. Then suddenly, the reploid broke eye contact and started laughing. "You are correct. I am not human." He paused and observed. Colbert's eyes widened a bit but Osmond barely bat an eyelash. "I am a reploid," he said, pausing a little once again while looking at them seriously in order to build up the atmosphere before continuing, "from another world."

"Fr-from another world?!" Professor Colbert exclaimed.

Zero barely held back a smirk. The reaction coming from Colbert was exactly the kind of reaction he expected to see. What he didn't expect to see, though, was Osmond's reaction. The older mage's calm demeanor and sharp questions suggested he's much better at reading in between the lines and knew what is important...

"What exactly is a reploid? Is Mister Pierrot a reploid as well?" Osmond asked. Again, his voice was calm and leaning toward curious.

The reploid could see the gears turning behind the headmaster's cool exterior. This old man proved to be much smarter than he first thought. Leading him around won't be easy... Well, then again, he came prepared to offer some basic information about himself so...

"Pierrot is human," Zero answered while shaking his head. After about a second, the reploid spoke, "I am something different." He paused and stared intensely at both mages. The headmaster remain compose and gave almost nothing out. Colbert, however, gulped nervously. "I am an android," he said. The hunter paused again and studied them a little further, knowing full well they would likely give him a blank stare. He was not disappointed and almost smirked. "I am a machine that's capable of thinking like a human," he clarified. Again, they gave him a blank stare like they have no idea what he was talking about. Zero sighed and thought about it a little further. "I am, er..." he said, looking around to see if he could find anything to help him explain. He spotted a grandfather clock in some corner. "...like the clock you have over there, only many, many times more advance."

_'A clock that thinks like a human?'_ thought Colbert, totally confused. Understandably, such statement doesn't make a lick of sense, and he voiced his doubt. "...How is that possible?"

"Beats me." The reploid shrugged. "It was you human that created us. You will have to find the answer to that yourself," he answered. "Although when the time do come that you do find yourselves going down the path we took, let's hope it will be a blessing rather than a curse..." he muttered to no one in particular.

Colbert picked up on what he said and he can't help but ask, "What do you mean?"

"Nope, never mind, Professor. Never mind..."

Just as the headmaster was about to speak, there was a knock on the door. "Headmaster Osmond, there's a message for you from the royal palace in regard to Fouquet's capture."

"Would you excuse me, Mr. Zero. Looks like that's all the time I got for now."

"That's alright headmaster. I am sure you are busy."

"Professor Colbert, would you see Mr. Zero to his room," said the headmaster. The other mage nodded escorted the familiar out the door.

...

...

...

A few minutes later and right after Osmond finished talking to the messenger and sent him away, Colbert walked back in. "Professor Colbert?" the headmaster to asked, a surprised look on his face. Considering the distance it takes from his office to the student dorm, that should have taken twice as long, at least...

"Halfway to the student dorm, Mr. Zero said he had some other things to do and said I should come back to you. He then took off into the night," the professor answered.

The headmaster sighed. "What else did he said?" he asked offhandedly. He didn't expect anything but...

"He told me he's currently searching for a way back to his home world," answered Colbert. He could see the headmaster was thinking hard. After a couple of seconds, he mustered enough courage and decided to ask, "What do you think of him, Headmaster?"

"Hmm...he is hiding much still, particularly his past; but so far, I sensed no malevolent intent," said the headmaster. When he saw Colbert gave him a skeptical look, he laughed and explained, "He is merely testing us, Professor."

"..." Colbert kept staring but decided to drop the subject a few seconds later. "What about the whole 'reploid' business and that he came from another world? How much of what he said should we believe? And what of his runes and...and those marks?"

"If you're worry whether he is a god or not, I can tell you he is most likely not."

"Huh?"

"You remembered the way he dug up that grave?" the headmaster asked. After Colbert nodded, he continued, "There exist many spells which allow him to splits the earth and remove layers of soil with ease. Even a well-trained dot mage could easily accomplish that, yet he chose to remove them with his bare hands instead. If he is a god, then he is a god with very little magical capabilities." Colbert was visibly relieved to hear that, but then the headmaster stared at him and warned, "That, however, does not mean he is not dangerous. The way he spotted us spying on him, the confidence which he carries when talking to us...he is highly skilled, Professor, and very smart. Do not underestimate him."

Colbert gulped, and silence reigned.

Apparently, his warning was a little too much for Colbert and the old mage sighed. "As for whether he is what he claims..." said Osmond. He paused in the middle of his sentence to gather his thoughts. "...it is safe to say he is different."

"Different?"

"... Perhaps like some kind of golem..." muttered the headmaster with a distant look. He snapped out of it and looked at Colbert once again. "Regardless, from the way he acts, it seems unlikely he would be a threat to anyone at this point," he said, easing the other mage's concern. "Unless provoked..." the headmaster added.

"Then the attack on those students..." said Colbert. His eyes widened with realization.

"I am afraid so, Professor," Osmond sighed. "In any case, you said he was searching for a way home, right?" the headmaster asked. When Colbert nodded, the old mage smiled and search for something in his desk. "Here is a pass to Fenrir's Library, Professor Colbert." When the professor gave him a questionable look, the headmaster smirked. "I like you to give this to him and assist with his search; and while you are at it, keep an eye out for him."

"Headmaster?"

"Colby, he is allowing us to freely monitor him, provided we help him in return of course," laughed the headmaster.

* * *

A lot was on Zero's mind as he wall-jumped over a castle wall. The identity of the actual owner of that pair of missile launchers was, without a doubt, a Maverick Hunter from the Elf War era. The Elf War was fought over a century ago, yet the headmaster stated he met his savior some thirty years ago. That means there is a time lag between the two worlds; which in turns means not only does he had to find a spell that can send him to his home world but he had it to make sure it will connect him to the right time period. His quest to find a way home had just became a whole lot more complicated...

The reploid sighed. His talk with the headmaster had not gone all that smoothly either. Apparently, the old geezer was a lot more cunning than he first thought, but at least he cleared some of their misunderstandings...hopefully. It's not like he expected them to fully trust him or anything. Hell, even he didn't fully trust them either, but he's willing to try. And he hoped they would do the same. That's what he was aiming for anyway. Cooperation or confrontation...the ball is now in their court. He'll see which path they choose soon, he thought as he travels to a nearby forest.

It's getting late, but he had one more thing to confirm before he goes back to Louise. It took him a few minutes to get to the nearest forest. As the reploid stepped into the forest, Derflinger spoke, "You know, partner, I knew there were something different about you, but that was quite an unexpected story. A being from another world crafted by humans, how much of that is true, I wondered. Oh and nice acting back there."

"And here I thought you were asleep this whole time," the reploid sighed and rolled his eyes.

"How can I fall asleep when my partner is revealing his past," replied Derflinger amusingly. "So, how much of your story is true, partner?"

"What do you think?" said the reploid as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Trying to turn the question on me, huh. Well, I suppose I could tell you my thoughts. As strange as your tale seems, I don't think you are lying."

The reploid suddenly stopped for a second and looked at the sentinel sword. "..." He continued forward and spotted a small clearing a little further ahead. He walked toward the clearing.

"Your world must be vastly different from ours. I am curious, what is it like in your world?"

Zero sighed. "I'll tell you about it later if you are interested. For now, tell me your impression of those two?"

"Colbert and the headmaster? Are you worried?"

"Just getting a second opinion."

"Hmmm..." Just as Zero thought Derflinger would speak no more, the sentinel sword spoke, "Colbert is sitting on the more cautious side of things. Although, I don't he will give you too much trouble. The headmaster, on the other hand, may prove difficult to handle. The old timer is very sharp and what he is thinking is a mystery to me. But all in all, I don't think he is looking for a fight. It seems he is more interested in keeping peace and seeing how things play out."

"..." The reploid was thinking along the same line as he stepped into the small clearing. He stopped and looked around.

"By the way, what are you looking for in this forest?"

"There is one thing I wanted to confirm," Zero said. He pulled out his Z-saber and activated it. Instantly, his runes started glowing and he felt a surge of power flowing through his body. He took a few experimental swings then promptly shut it off. Just like last time, the power surge evaporated from his body and the runes stopped glowing. He pulled out his Z-buster next. As soon as his finger touched the trigger, his runes started glowing.

"Trying to figure out how your runes work, partner?" came Derflinger's sudden voice, sounding somewhat amused.

"One got to know one's own abilities; don't you agree, old wise sword?" Zero answered and drew Derflinger out of its sheath with his unoccupied hand while still holding his Z-buster with his other hand. To Zero's surprise, the rust on the old sentinel sword faded away, revealing a fine metal blade gleaming under the moonlight.

"Ooh, I have regained my original form. I knew you had it in you, partner," said Derflinger, happy to gain back its original form. The millenniums old sword's celebration came a bit too soon though as rust suddenly covered up its body. "Wh-wh-what happened? What happened to my magnificent body?!"

Zero stared and blinked at the sudden transformations of Derflinger. He was just as puzzled as the old sword. All he did was put away his Z-buster, and suddenly the sentinel sword got all dulled and rusted up...

Having had a vague idea of what might have happen, Zero decided to test out his theory. He grabbed the Z-saber and activated it. Once again, his runes glowed and the rust on Derflinger came off. Shut of his beam weapon and his runes stopped glowing while the old blade lost its gleam and got all rusty. Turn it on, the runes glows and Derflinger shines. Turn it off, the runes dimmed and Derflinger got all dull and rusty.

On - off - on - off...

"What is the meaning of this!" said the angry sword.

After a number of tries, the reploid came to a conclusion and muttered to himself, "Hmm, looks like these runes will activate and increase my power so long as I am holding onto an active weapon and-"

"What did you say, Zero?" the angry sword said, interrupting the rest of the reploid's thoughts. "Are you saying I am not a weapon, that I am not worthy enough to be counted as your weapon?! Is that what you are saying?!"

"..." Zero looked at the angry rusty blade. He got to admit that was not the best thing to say given the situation. It was definitely a mistake on his part. Now he got an angry sword rambling about just how pissed it was...

"Oh, how insulting, how preposterous? To think that I, the Great Derflinger, have been reduced to nothing but some toy! This is utmost insulting, the utmost humiliating! Never have I experienced such insult in my six thousand years of existence!"

"Calm down, Derf," said Zero. He almost felt sorry for the sword. "You are a perfectly nice sword. It's just-"

"Calm down? How can I calm down?! This is the first time I have been look down upon on to such an extent! Even all those 'rusty blade' comments didn't compare to this!"

Zero made no comment on the matter. He simply gave the sword a sympathetic look which actually made the matter worse...

"You are agreeing to this aren't you," said the ancient blade. "Damn it! That's it! You know what, Zero! Just throw me away somewhere in this forest and let me rot. I am a worthless piece of junk metal anyway. Do it, Zero! Let this piece of worthless scrap metal rest in peace! Let the humiliation end!"

"Listen to me Deflinger," said Zero. "You may not be as powerful as some of...actually all of my weapons..." he muttered the last part quickly and changed to a more upbeat tone, "...but you are still a very nice weapon."

"Oh just let me die already," the sword moaned.

"Listen, I may carry around weapons more powerful than you, but there are things that you have that they don't," said the reploid.

"Like?"

"Like, um..." Zero tried to come up with something but it was all too sudden. His mind was empty.

"Melt me down now."

"Look, Derf..." said Zero. He began trying to cheer up Derflinger and sort out this inferior complex the ancient blade suddenly develops. The reploid ended up spending the next couple of hours telling his sentinel weapon how much he appreciates the weapon's wisdom and that a lower powered weapon is sometimes more useful than a more powerful one...

As Zero spent the rest of the night trying to encourage Derflinger - instead of learning the secret of his runes - he can't help but felt relieved he didn't have to do this with his Z-saber. He is so glad his beam weapon is 'not' sentinel. For that matter, he's glad his Z-buster doesn't have a mind of its own either...

Chapter End

* * *

AN: The opening of this chapter is a setup for the next. The main goal for this chapter is to get Osmond, Colbert, and Zero to start working together and build trust. This is one version of how it is done. Another version could go with Zero telling them everything or play less mind games. I choose this version because I am the paranoid-kind of person. It doesn't make sense to me any hero with a brain would talk about his past with a bunch of strangers. Even if he wanted to make friends with them, I believe it makes more sense to take small steps and get to know each other through daily interactions (which is now setup in the background). As for why Zero decided to take the step to begin with? Answer could be found in previous chapter when Fouquet expresses the headmaster's integrity. Last bit of the chapter was to screw Derflinger. I know he normally does not transform back and forth, but let's just say he does here. Hahaha

This chapter is tough for me because it is heavy with conversations. Worse yet, some of those conversations drive the plot forward which means I cannot skip it. It had to be done sooner or later and this is the best place to do it. Hopeful it isn't that bad, though I do have my doubt… Anyway this chapter is subject to change if I can come up with better versions/conversations.

Speaking of changes, I reverse the role on 'scornful women' advice in previous chapter because I had to make Derflinger appear wiser following the last bit here. Actually I had always wanted him to take on that role but for some reason Zero took it when I first wrote it…

Miscellaneous: Pierrot was an OC stolen from Zero: The Soul of a Hero. The man died heroicly at the end of chapter 2…Miscellaneous: Pierrot was an OC stolen from Zero: The Soul of a Hero. The man died heroically at the end of chapter 2; and I originally wanted an OC from Reploid Force but found too much problem with that idea…

Replies:

Redripper666: But most are less than 1000 words. Plus many things can only be express here…

Guest from Feb 25: Indeed. The runes had one simple directive: upgrade him to strongest possible, similar to Saito's.

Serialkeller: Same question again? *sigh* Please read my earlier replies. In regard to your latest one: 1) Fouquet vs Zero was a one-hit-KO match. What more could he have done? 2) If you paid attention, he actually done a lot, all because he did so little…Think cause &amp; effect pal. 3) Regarding the use of power…this may just be an ideological difference, but you wouldn't use tactical nuclear weapons for pest control just as you wouldn't use a katana in a medical operation. Why would Zero use his god like power on someone as insignificant as her? Unless of course you thought dropping nukes to kill some mice is a good idea or that you don't mind doctors operating on you with a Japanese sword…

Alright, I have a question. How many of you _do_ understand why Zero held back so much against Fouquet round 2. To me, it was just common sense logic but that doesn't mean much apparently. Then again, what is common sense to me may not be common sense to you… So, does anyone want me to explain that in detail or perhaps someone want to take a shot?

Whatever; next is Mott…finally. I am going to take my time. Blahahahahaha


	12. Chapter 12

AN: It's been a while folks. Here comes the next chapter. It's a whopping 20k words chapter. Unlike last time, I have no idea how to chop it in half as the events here are very interconnected. Oh, and a word of warning as well: There are lots of POV shifting, hidden agendas, and floating ideas in here, so the flow of the story is not very smooth. Unfortunately, I lack the ability make it clearer so you are just going have to crank up your brain juice to figure out what is what. And yes, I am still 'very sorry' to inform you all, but my grammar is not likely going to improve anytime soon or…if ever. HAHAHA… Oh well.

* * *

Chapter 11: My Evil Familiar &amp; His Evil (Illegal) Ancient Ultimate Martial Arts Technique

"Zero-san, you know you don't really have to do this," said Siesta. It was a beautiful day in Tristain Magic Academy, and Zero, wearing his usual butler's clothing with an additional apron, was sitting next to her, helping out with her daily laundry duty like usual. Of course he wasn't handling anything expansive or 'delicate', but he was helping none the least.

"Oh, but I wanted to you guys out. I feel more at ease knowing I am being useful around here," Zero replied smiling. She stared at him weirdly. "Plus, I rather like this job. There's something tranquil about such task," he laughed.

Again, Siesta stared...and just kept staring...

"Is there something on my face?" said Zero a couple of seconds later, somewhat amused.

"Huh?" Siesta squeaked and dropped her gaze immediately. Embarrassed, she buried herself in work.

After observing the maid for a couple of seconds, Zero shrugged and returned to his share of the laundry work. A minute or so of hard scrubbing, the maid managed to gather her courage and looked up. She turned to him and said, "Can I ask you something, Zero-san?"

Zero looked at the maid and blinked. He nodded a second later.

"How did you do it, Zero-san?" said Siesta. Zero raised an eyebrow in question and she elaborates, "How did you manage to smile while doing lowly jobs like these. With your abilities, you must have been some very important person. These kinds of work must have been disgraceful to you!"

"I don't really mind-" Zero replied, smiling, but the girl hadn't notice and kept on talking.

"And you were always smiling and staying positive. How did you do that? How did you learn my family's secret technique so quickly?"

'_... Is she jealous or something,'_ Zero thought as he studied the maid. _'Nope, something else seemed to be bothering her...'_ he observed but couldn't tell what it was...

"What makes you so...'strong'?"

"Why are you asking such question all of a sudden?"

She wasn't listening. "What make you so...brave, Zero-san?"

"Siest-" The reploid turned his thought into a sigh when the maid kept on talking.

"Where did you get your confidence from-" Realizing she was being rude, the maid abruptly stopped and dropped her head. She heard Zero sighed again and sneaked a peak at him. His eyes met her own; and he gestured her to continue on with her thoughts. Siesta took a deep breath, calming her nerve, and spoke, "I guess what I really wanted to know is: Is there ever anything that makes you question yourself? Have you ever come across something that you thought you could never overcome? And how would you deal with that?"

"Everyone will someday come across challenges that made them question themselves, Siesta, and I am no exception to that," said Zero. When Siesta settled down, Zero continued his story. "I once fought an enemy whose abilities far surpass mine in almost every category. He was the world's greatest warrior. None, safe for my best friend, even come close in matching his strength."

"How did you defeat him?"

"His strength was immense indeed." Zero picked up a piece of laundry and unconsciously started scrubbing it as he recalled the toughest fight of his life. "We fought for what seems like many hours, or days even, exchanging blows after blows. After blocking many of his powerful attacks, my body started to ache. Yet the onslaught kept coming." There was a distance look coming from the reploid as his reminisce gets deeper. He soon began losing himself to the memory of that epic battle. His body tensed, and the grip on the piece of cloth tightened. At about the same time, the runes on his left hand began to glow, faintly.

"Um, Zero-san?" said Siesta, somewhat concern, as she saw the speed of her companion's hand picked up considerably.

"As my body ached from blocking each of his powerful attack, thoughts of losing came to me. There was many times I thought I would not be able to overcome him - he is the world's greatest warrior, after all - but I pushed away such negative thoughts each time," said Zero. By now, his runes were shining brightly. "I have to win! For all those that depend on me, Omega must be defeated!" And there was a tearing sound.

"Zero-san! Zero-san!" Siesta screamed and shook his arms, trying to wake him up. In part, she was concern for his well being...

Zero finally waked up at the sound of a very familiar noise, and the glowing light on his runes started fading. Immediately, the reploid stopped what he was doing and looked at the item in his hand. His body tensed up almost immediately again, though for a very different reason this time. Meanwhile, his glowing runes finally stopped glowing.

The reploid stole a peak at Siesta. Both of her hands were on her hips as she glared down at him. She did not appear very happy... "Um...oops," said Zero, smiling nervously with a torn piece of cloth still in his hand.

The maid was not impressed...

...

...

...

"Um...As you can see, the key to overcome any challenges is to never give up," said Zero as he helped Siesta hanging the last piece of laundry. Just a few minutes ago, he was banished to a corner while Siesta cleaned up his mess. Somehow, he managed to convince the maid to let him back in the job, but she was still frowning.

Siesta sighed. She wasn't sure what to think of her odd companion anymore. He was kind and sweet; incredibly strong and skilled, yet clumsy at times. He can be so smart at times and yet oblivious to some of the most basics of things. And the oddest of all, he genuinely did appeared upset over being banished from doing a maid's work. Seriously, he was giving her this weird puppy-eyed looks and pouts the entire time he was banished. It was so funny that she just can't stay angry with him. All in all, he really was a strange person, but she admired him all the same; perhaps even more so now.

He was right, she thought. Giving up on anything and it'll be over before it even begins. The maid's mood brightened slightly at such thought. "Thank you, Zero-san," she said. "I think I understand what you mean now." Although she wasn't sure how to deal with the predicament she will soon have to face, she decided she will face it bravely with her head held high.

"There you are, Zero! How many times have I told you not to wander off on your own! I have been searching all over for you, you stupid fool!" shouted a certain pink haired tigress from a distant.

Zero sighed and removed the apron he wore. He turned to Siesta, handing her his apron, and said, "Well, it looks I got to go. Goodbye Siesta." Then he started walking toward his 'master'.

"Goodbye Zero-san," she whispered mostly to herself, hiding away her sadness, as she watched his long ponytail swaying back and forth in the wind for one very last time. This time the next day, she would be working for someone she despises...

* * *

It was night time, and Zero had just departed from the Fenrir's Library. As he slowly walked his way up the stairs of the student dorm, he couldn't help but reflected upon the day's event. It'd been a busy day for him.

First, his runes had unexpectedly activated while he was helping out with Siesta's work. That put him at a peculiar moment with the maid. Luckily, he was able to talk his way out of trouble with her, for the most part, probably... Too bad he wasn't able to stay longer and assess his standing with the well-liked maid as his 'master' had showed up soon after...

Louise, after recovering from her little 'rash problem', had been doing some 'secret training' with her spells; and being her familiar and well verse in battle, she enlisted him for help. Essentially, she was asking him for ideas on how to use her spells more efficiently - or properly, he mused.

He asked her to show him all the spells she knew. She did; and not surprisingly, they all ended in some kind of explosions. But, as it turned out, her explosive spells came in with quite a wide range of varieties. Some form a cloud of black smoke with little to no impact power while a few others can pack quite a punch. Sometimes her spells will come with a delay effect like some kind a time bomb. Luckily, he was able to detect the subtle energy spike in the surrounding area and was there in those times to prevent some unpleasant outcomes. _'Seriously, she can be quite scary sometimes,'_ the reploid thought.

The scariest thing she had proposed to date happened on first day of her training. Essentially, she wanted to recreate the type of explosions that destroyed Fouquet's massive golems. Good thing he managed to convince her to start small. She wasn't very happy about that, but reason ultimately prevailed over zealous ambitions. And so right now, she's grumpily blowing up pebbles.

As her training went on, he discovered her spells travel in a straight line from whatever she pointed her wand at. They travel fairly quick and had almost no visual queues, which made them quite hard to detect. Perhaps it was because of that and her lack of experience, she couldn't manipulate the trajectory of her spells like that of Kirche or even Styx. As a result, her aims were terrible. He swears she would miss her target the size of an elephant if it was just a hundred feet away from her. And that wasn't her only problem either. There were times when her spells would fail completely, doing absolutely nothing. Despite so, strength seemed to be zapped from her regardless. Emotions also seemed to play a part with her spells. They worked best when she's calm. Both nervousness and stressfulness tend to limit her spell's effect. When she's at the extreme ends of things - either happy, angry or others - her spells can also go extreme too - either a spectacular explosion or a complete failure.

'_What a troublesome girl she is...and a scary one too, especially if she ever realize her full potential,'_ the legendary hunter thought as he shook his head. Anyway, after he finished watching over his tiny pink hair lady's 'extra curriculum', he excused himself and went to the Fenrir's Library where he met up with Colbert. There, he continued his search, but even with the help of the professor, so far, no result of any value had been produced...

As frustrating as his search went, his thoughts somehow went back to Siesta. More accurately, it was the way she said her goodbyes earlier. He frowned as he replayed that scene across his mind. He didn't exactly know how to describe it, but there seemed to be some sort of sadness buried deep within her tone at that time...or maybe it was all just his imagination. Honestly, he couldn't tell, but the whole encounter with her earlier the day was strange. Her sudden emotional outburst came out of nowhere and threw him off balance. He tried giving her some guidance by answering her questions. Unfortunately, things got a little 'personal' and he went into a trance. Then one thing led to another, and he ended up destroying some clothes and got her pissed off... He shook his head and cleared thoughts. Right now, analyzing why she behave the way she did was more important...

Zero spent a few minutes on the subject but got no result in return. _'Perhaps I should try asking her about it tomorrow-'_

"Helloo Zero," said a sultry female voice, cutting off his thoughts. It was Kirche, and she was currently standing in between the hallway and the staircase he need to get to Louise's floor...

"...Kir-Kirche," said Zero as he looked in her direction and... Yup, the maid's problem will have to wait; right now, he had a very 'hungry cougar' to deal with. She was practically in her underwear with only a thin, see-through silk garment as her cover. _'Talk about revealing clothing...'_ thought the reploid as he involuntarily took a step backward. Just then, he noticed a huge red lizard approaching from behind, blocking off his path for a quick retreat.

"I have heard that you had not received any award despite the fact that you had participated in the capture of Fouquet," said Kirche as she approaches.

There was a slight sadness in her tone, but it was most likely fake. Sensing things are going to get really 'complicated' soon, Zero responded, "That's alright, I don't really-" He was hoping his quick response would somehow disrupt her rhythm and allows him the chance to escape.

Kirche wasn't as easily distracted, however. In fact, she was very much single minded in what she wanted and quickly seized his left arm, shoving it in between her voluptuous chest. "That was so not fair, but fear not, my love. Your bravery shall not be forgotten. I shall be the one to award you instead, and I got the prefect gift for you," she said. "Come, darling, your reward awaits you." She didn't give Zero any chance to reply and proceeded to drag him into her 'lair' while praising him for all he's worth. Her salamander followed them close behind.

-z-z-

Once again, Zero found himself inside Kirche's room, alone with his over enthusiastic host. Her familiar was left outside to guard the door. The room inside was fairly dark like last time, with only a few small candles in odd places lighting it up. The window, however, was shut this time, and covers were employed to block out the view. While light from the two moons still past through, the view outside was obscured. Well really, it was mostly likely done to obscure outsiders' view instead, preventing them from seeing what she was planning to do with him. She seemed quite determined not to let others interfering with her 'activities' this time, he concluded. _'This is going to be a tough one,'_ he thought as Kirche led him further inside her 'lair'.

In the end, Kirche led him to the side of her bed and had him sit on it. She then sat near him and stared. He was gorgeous albeit a bit awkward. While he usually appeared very confident, there were times when he seemed a little lost. Contradictory moments like those made him all the more interesting as a whole. And sometimes, he would even freeze up entirely before her. Shyness perhaps, but it was so very cute. She was intrigued. He's just so different than all those other men that she's used to see... "Hmmm, where was I?" she purred and was getting lost in her thoughts. She couldn't help it. When it come to this blond-haired familiar, there were just so much she could do with him that her mind always 'wanders'...

"..."

"Oh right, the gift," Kirche responded after she got a hold of herself. She got up and went to some corner looking for something.

While Kirche searched for her gift, Zero looked around to see if there was anything that could him get out of this dicey situation. He began analyzing the room: The window was close, door locked, and a giant lizard was standing guard outside... Yup, getting out won't be easy.

As Kirche searched, something rolled up by his feet. He picked it up and examined it a bit. He remembered seeing a similar object in Louise's room, and so out of curiosity, he asked, "What is this?"

Kirche took a glance at the object he was holding and said, "Ah, it just a family seal use for signing agreements and such between nobles." She resumed searching for her 'gift'. Finding what she was looking for, Kirche returned to Zero.

'_Here she comes...'_ the reploid thought nervously, dropping her seal on the floor.

"Heroes need powerful weapons by their side. Only a sword powerful like this is worthy of a hero like you, my darling."

Zero stared at the golden blade that was presented to him, blinked and breathed a sigh of relieve. Her 'gift' turned out not what he thought would be. Seriously, with the way she was dressed and all, he was fairly certain her 'gift' had something to do along the line of giving her entire self to him. It seemed he guessed wrong. Perhaps 'he' was the one with a perverted mind; he thought and quickly rid himself of the dirty scenario his mind conjured up.

While Zero was struggling with his inner thoughts, Kirche crawled onto her bed and spread her limps. She was getting comfortable, a little too comfortable. She started giving him sexy poses and seductive smiles...

'_Guess I wasn't wrong after all,'_ the reploid thought and almost laughed. The fervent redhead kept giving him many, many suggestive gestures. Her intention was pretty clear. There was just one little thing he didn't quite get. What was she thinking? Had she thought she could just buy him over with a simply gift? That he would somehow be so overcome with desire that he'll just jump her on the spot? That he was a prostitute or something? "Thank you for such a lovely gift, Kirche. Oh but look, it's getting really late. I should get going," said the reploid as he grabbed onto his 'gift' and prepared to leave. From the surprised look she displayed toward his response, perhaps she really did thought he was all of that. Such thoughts led him to consider another possibility. Maybe he was wrong about her all along. Maybe she wasn't really that experienced in the game of dating others - or at least not as experienced as he first thought. She's clearly not an amateur...

"W-wait my darling," Kirche pleaded. She quickly got off of her bed, rushed up to him and embraced him from behind all the while making sure to press her breasts tight against his back. "I got something I wish to show you," she purred into his ear.

A second into her embrace, her hands were beginning to wander around his chest. Yup, definitely no amateur here... "What was it that you wanted to show me, Miss Kirche?" said Zero charmingly. The tone in his statement caused her wandering hands to stop wandering. She left his side for a second and came back with a small red box of some kind. There was a unique emblem design on its and a key hole on the center. A silver key was also attached to it "...What is it?" asked the reploid.

"This is our family heirloom, a book that supposedly contain magical property-"

"Wait, supposedly? You never have seen what's inside yourself?" Zero raised his eyebrow in question.

"No, but I'll be happy to share this moment with you," she said seductively. Even though she didn't really like the idea of using her family heirloom's 'magical property' on him - it'll be like a small blow to her pride - she decided he's all worth it.

'_Not good...'_ Zero thought. "Erm...er, maybe next time, Kirche-"

"Are you sure, Zero?" Kirche pouted pleadingly almost as she took the key out and began unsealing her book. She wasn't really paying attention to their conversation, he observed. She was more interest in getting that book of hers out in the open.

"This book was sought after by men from all over the continent," Kirche explained, making small talks while staring passionately straight into his eyes. "The latest one was a high ranking Count from this country with some connections to the royal court. Count...er...Matt or Mott...er... whatever. Anyway, it's a book that will increase a man's passion, our passion," she smiled fervently in his direction as she began unlocking the box.

Kirche's passionate stares did pretty much what they were intended to do, and that was freezing him in place. Although, that wasn't very important at the moment. It was her magical book and that absurd claim about its magical property that occupied the reploid's mind. While he had his doubt about the book's ability to turn him into some kind of a love-slave to her, therefore he's not overly worried, he does have his concern. After all, it's magic that he is dealing with. Things like that don't necessary have to follow the conventional order of things. Laws of physics don't really apply to them - or any of these people for the matter... The real question was whether he wants to take the risk...

While Zero was having his debate, Kirche managed to get the book out of the box. Without delay or seeing what was inside, she proudly presented it to him and...

Zero stared at her so call 'magical book' in silence. He blinked a few times and ran a quick diagnostic check just to make sure. The result was as it should be: Nothing. _'It's just a regular porno magazine...'_ he thought and let loose a small sigh of relieve. He just worked himself up over nothing; laughable really. But then, he noticed something. _'These prints...'_ he thought and narrowed his eyes. He recognized them as one of the languages from his home world. He quickly looked at the date on its cover: April 1975. _'...a 19XX era porno magazine.'_

When Kirche finally had the chance to see her family heirloom for the first time, she was somewhat disappointed. There was just no way this book could have any affect on her target tonight. Seriously, her own 'assets' were far superior than whatever this book can offer. From the bored expression he displayed, she guessed he wasn't impressed either. _'Tch, all that for nothing,'_ she frowned.

"Kirche, how exactly did your family got this book?"

She suddenly saw a spark of interest in his eyes regarding her book. She frowned. "Why concern yourself over some still portraits, Zero? Forget about that book," she pouted.

'_...Is she jealous or something?'_

Kirche quickly put her on charm and stalked forward. "I bet you can find something way more interesting right in front of you," she said, emphasizing the 'right in front of you' part of her sentence, adding even more flirtatious effect to it. Her eyes were filled with a passion of 'hunger'. Her provocative display was going into overdrive as she seemed losing herself to passion.

Upon seeing that, Zero took a few back steps, put his hands up in a panic-denial like fashion and squeaked, "Th-that's not what I meant, Kirche. I-I am currently doing some research for Professor Colbert on unusual summoning objects. Your family heirloom may be the breakthrough we need." The new passion-filled hungry stares and fervent smiles Kirche was giving him reminded the reploid of someone who used to give him that exact same expression; except 'that person' would be unleashing a multitude of deadly assaults on him while doing it and without an ounce of mercy too... Zero now understood why he had such a hard time dealing with Kirche. Although this ardent girl was not 'that person', he was still quite traumatized by his previous experience(s) with that individual...

"Oh?" Kirche blinked. The sudden change of his demeanor and direction in their conversation were quite unexpected, and she returned to normalcy. Her flirtatious aura was gone as she studied him curiously. He was in one of those awkward moments in which he's just so cute. But it seemed he was telling the truth: His interest in that stupid book only extend to the origin of where it came from and not its content. Not that she was worried about it or anything...ever...it was just... Anyway, she decided to put those thoughts behind her for now and plots her next move. Approaching him with a level-headed mind, she answered, "Hmm, it was something my grandfather got using some kind of summoning spell."

"Do you know which spell he used?" Zero looked at her intensely, suddenly appearing very interested.

"Hmm...I am not sure. It's probably...a-a common summoning spell?" she said. She was beginning to lose herself under his intensive gaze...

Kirche's change in attitude did not go unnoticed by Zero, and he quickly seized his opportunity. "Can you find out exactly which spell he used? It's important."

Once again, he was staring at her with such intensity that she could barely think straight. "Oh," she said, hypnotized. Distracted as she was, it took her two full seconds to process what he was saying and another two seconds before she could muster a coherent reply. She was melting. "Um, hmm, I could try and ask my family-"

Fueling with success, Zero decided to risk a change of tactics. He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared directly into her eyes. "Thanks Kirche," he said and then did the unexpected. He hugged her.

"An-Anything for you, m-my love," Kirche replied, fervently...Her body was heating up; her breath became uneven. She was melting and her mind was getting hazy all over again. Before she had the presence of mind to return Zero's hug, he pulled away. She was a little disappointed, but then the way he stared at her afterward made her forgot pretty much everything. Maybe her grandfather's 'book of passion' really did cast a magic spell over him, increasing his passion; maybe it really did work and she's now reaping the benefits...

Stimulated as she was, Kirche hadn't even realized Zero had somehow guided her to her bed.

"...I appreciate your help. I shall await your findings," he said affectionately. Gently, he nudged her to sit on her bed. His gentle gaze never left hers.

"Hmmm..."

"Hmm, it's getting late, Kirche; you must be getting really tired," said Zero charmingly. He got her to lie down on her bed.

"Hmmm..."

He slowly leaned forward and grabbed onto her sheet. Equally slow, he started pulling it up, covering her whole body. His affectionate gaze never left hers. "You should get some rest, Kirche," he whispered and leaned closer...

"Hmmm...Zero..." Kirche moaned. She closed her eyes in anticipation... There was a kiss, except it wasn't where she had expected. The man of her dream kissed her on her forehead instead.

"Good night, Kirche."

"Huh?" When she reopened her eyes, he was already by the door. She tried getting up but her sheet was tucking her in tightly. It was then that she realized she had been played. Refusing to give up just yet, she forced her sheet to the side and got up from her bed. Without further delay, she chased after him. "W-wait!"

-z-z-

Zero knew he had only a limited opportunity to get away and he had to make it quick. Normally, that wouldn't a problem, but Kirche's fiery salamander was surprisingly diligent to its master's command, which was not to let anyone in or out of her room. So when the door began to open, it was readying itself to pounce on whoever that was going to walk through that door. Such an event caused Zero a slight delay as he had to back step in order to dodge that giant lizard. By then, however, Kirche had managed to run up from behind him and launched herself into him.

"Zeroo! Don't leave me!" Kirche screamed as she practically body-slammed into him. Her initial goal was to get them both onto the floor where she could roll on top of him. Unfortunately, she forgot he was super strong and so she failed miserably. Nonetheless, her hands started to roam across his chest...

"Um, Miss Kirche?"

"Yes, Zero?" she replied, looking at his questioning stares. Realizing her current approach wasn't working, she stopped what she was doing. Undeterred, however, she simply changed tactic and quickly too. "I mean, ow, Zeroo, I tripped and twisted my ankle. Could you help me to my bed?"

'_Damn it, so close...'_ he thought. For a whole second, the reploid just stared, but finally, he carried her to her bed. He set her down on the side of her bed and asked, "How was your foot?"

"Huh? Oh, um, it huurt my darling," she whined and extended her 'injured' foot to him.

_'Boy, she just doesn't give up does she...'_ he thought. The reploid held her foot in his hands and scanned it for any injury. As expected, no injury what so ever was found. _'Well if nothing, she's certainly very persistence at least...'_ He'd pretty much figured out what she was doing. The problem right now was how to get himself out of this one. He pretended to examine her foot further while thinking for a solution... _'Hmmm, her foot...'_

"Aah, oow, mmm," Kirche moaned as he examined her foot. She upped her antis by moaning louder, sexier, and trying to use her legs better to get his attention but to no avail. He seemed very concentrated; she observed and frowned a little. Most men in his position would have been gladly licking her feet by now...

"Kirche, does it really hurt that badly?" He looked at her with 'compassion'.

"Hmm? Oh yes, yes, it huurt my darling."

"Hmm, this could serious, Kirche, but worry not. I just learned a technique that may help with your condition."

"Huh?" she blinked. She watched as he wrapped her 'injured' leg under his arm with his back facing her.

"Oh and this may hurt just a little, but bear with me, Kirche. It's for your own good," he said. His tone was husky but with a slight humor...

"Huh?" she responded, completely clueless. Although distracted by his husky tone, she knew something was not right - or...at least in the back of her mind, she knew. Before she had a chance to really figure out what he meant by that and do anything about it, however, he proceeded with his treatment, knuckling the underside of her foot and... "AAAHHHH!" Kirche screamed in pain, for real this time.

The door suddenly swung wide open where a huge fiery lizard stood. It had heard the terrible screams of its master's and came to see what happened. It saw its master sitting on bed with that blond hair man holding onto her leg. They froze in place and stared its direction. They were in a rather odd position considering what its master wanted from that blond hair man, the lizard observed. Looking more closely, it saw tears coming out from the corner of its master's eyes. The situation was clear. This blond hair man was assaulting its master! This stupid man dared to hurt its precious master!

The angry salamander growled at its master's assailant and charged. Zero saw that coming. He quickly jumped to the other side of the bed and used Kirche as his shield. The angry lizard stopped by Kirche and growled at the reploid. "I am so sorry, Kirche. For your familiar to come in like that, I must have done something terrible."

'_What is this?'_ Kirche thought as she watched Zero attentively. He was giving her a look of guilt and apology. It was a fresh side of him that she'd never expected to see. Such new changes, new experiences, kept her captivated to this blond hair familiar. There's just never a dull moment with him, she thought. It was also a great opportunity to seize what she wanted, she realized. Just thinking that alone, increased her passion a few folds, and she was no longer thinking straight...

But then, her familiar was prowling aggressively across her bed trying to get to Zero. It was distracting her from fully assessing the handsome blond and their situation. It was soon starting to get annoying. "Flame, that is enough. I told you to stand guard outside, so get out and guard the door," she ordered. Her familiar whined and whimpered quite a bit but she barely paid any attention to them. "Now!" she yelled, pointing to the door. Her fiery lizard finally gave way and went outside, reluctantly, as ordered, and with its head held lower. When her salamander was finally outside and closed her door, she turned back to Zero. Her eyes were smoldered with passion once again. "Now where were we?"

"Um, that my skill was lacking and that you were in pain because of me," he said, still sounding very apologetic.

"No, no, you were doing great. I really like it, and I wish you to continue, whatever it is," she smiled. He looked so appetizing at the moment that she had already forgotten what they were talking about. Passion had completely taken over her common sense by now, and she was simply giving out automatic responses. In other words, she wasn't really thinking.

"Are you sure?"

"Why, yes my darling, anything for you." She was practically drooling in anticipation at this point. Her mind had already seized all other functions except the thoughts of a passion-filled night with this handsome, blond hair familiar...

'_Gotcha,'_ he thought, hiding a smirk. "Well, then..."

...

...

...

Kirche ended up screaming painfully for the rest of her 'treatment'; her familiar never came inside her room again. Afterward, she lay on her bed, panting, tired and ready to sleep. Zero soon left her room after tucking her in bed. In hindsight, she realized she had been played once again, but she didn't regret it. This was the first time she had ever lost in a 'game of seduction', but it was such an exhilarating experience that she wanted to do it all over again, regardless of the outcome. Even though he had shown pretty clear this time that he's not interested in her the way she's interested in him, she's not giving up yet. The blood of Hunter Love von Zerbst still ran hot in her system. As she drifted in-between sleeps, she promised she would do better next time and up her game. She smiled, wondering how he would handle her then. The land of dreams was calling. Her last remaining thought(s) before she succumbed to darkness lingered upon their next meeting and what would she do differently then...

-z-z-

Zero turned the knob to Kirche's door, smiling. It was a close call, but he won this round. He'll have Siesta to thank for that later. He's so glad he learned the maid's secret massaging technique. He just knew it would come in handy one day; and just as he predicted, her technique had saved the day. It also gave Kirche something to think about in their future encounters, which is quite a plus... Unlike her other regular techniques, the unique foot massage he used this time was supposed to feel painful, especially for those who were unprepared or first time experiencing it, but the patient will feel a lot better the next day, after a full night of sleep. And of course, like all of the maid's techniques, fatigue and drowsiness came as the immediate side effects.

As a bonus from their encounter this time around, he also learned something important about Kirche, two important something to be exact. First, was that family heirloom of hers. If he could find out what spell was used to get it here, maybe he could find a way to reverse engineer something out of it. Well, it'll all depend on that passionate redhead now, and possibly Professor Colbert as well... Although, getting any information out of her may required dealing with her again. That was when the second thing he learned about the ardent girl this night may come into play. As it turned out, taking the lead is the key in dealing with her. He had to take control of their pacing. It was of utmost important, essential even, if he was to 'survive' another one on one encounter with her. If not, 'bad things' will happen...

Zero opened the door and took a step outside of Kirche's 'lair'. Immediately, an angry salamander growled at him. "Don't worry, your master is fine. She will be brimming with energy by tomorrow morning," said the reploid, smiling. The red lizard growled some more but made no attempt to attack. He started walking away but stopped after a couple of steps. He turned around and looked at the salamander with an apologetic expression. "And I apologized that this happened, salamander, but it was the only way. I hope you understand," he said. After that, he left for Louise's room, unhindered this time - although, he did spotted a certain blond haired boy flirting with a certain brunette girl on the way, and 'soufflé' was their subject once again...

* * *

"Hmm, have you seen Siesta this morning?" asked Zero. It was around mid morning, and he was currently in the head chef's kitchen, talking to Marteau. Normally, he wouldn't be anywhere near the guy, but the weird head chef seemed the most knowledgeable when it came to the academy's staffs and the most respected among them as well... He was going to thank Siesta for teaching him some very useful technique, but he couldn't find the maid anywhere and he didn't recall she said anything about taking a day off. Given what had happened the day before, he was a little worried, which is why he was standing before this weirdo chef right now.

"Oh, you didn't hear about it from Siesta, Our Sword? She had to go serve Count Mott."

"Count Mott?" Zero frowned. For some reason, he thought he heard the name before but couldn't remember where or when...

"Yeah," the chef sighed. "She left on a carriage earlier this morning."

"That sudden?"

"That's right, Our Sword," replied the head chef.

"Hmm...alright then. Thank you for telling me, Marteau..." said Zero. He started thinking over the chef's words, but then, he noticed the 'weirdo' was giving him this odd stare, which made him...uncomfortable. Seriously, with the way that weirdo chef was staring at him, he had to wonder if the guy was up to something...

"In the end, we commoners have no choice but to listen to nobles..." Marteau sighed.

"What was that?"

"Hm? Oh it's nothing. Anyway, are you sure you don't want anything to eat, Our Sword?"

"Erm, no I am good. Thank you. And, um...I think I should get going now." The reploid performed an about face and quickly left the premise.

-z-z-

Zero took the information the head chef gave him and thought about it for a bit as he walked pass a long hallway. _'Anxious about changing to a new job perhaps...'_ he frowned. Oh well, there's nothing much he could do at this point, he thought and went to another area of the academy. Absentmindedly, he walked all the way back to the student dorm. Still, the last comment made by the weirdo chef about commoners and their lack of choice when dealing with nobles bothered him a little...

"Zero."

Perhaps he should investigate the matter a bit further...

"Zero!"

Realized his name had been called, the reploid turned to the source and found a pink hair girl glaring at him. Smiling, he greeted, "Yo, Louise."

"Damn it, why didn't you respond when I called your name?!"

Zero rolled his eyes at her but did not respond. He simply followed her back to her room, enduring/ignoring her 'lectures' all the while...

...

...

...

It was noon; Louise was about to head for lunch; and Zero had equipped himself with Derflinger, ready to head out himself. He planned to accompany Louise to the dining hall; and when she was inside, he would slipped out and meet with Professor Colbert in the Fenrir's Library. There were much to discuss, especially with Kirche's family heirloom, and he hoped Derflinger could provide some useful insights...

When the reploid finally arrived to the outside of the dining hall, he spotted a couple of maids gossiping among themselves in a corner. They all had a grave expression on. Curious, he tuned in to their conversation.

"So, Siesta was really gone," said one maid, sounding sad.

"Yeah, I heard she had to go work for that Count Mott from now on."

"Oh, the poor girl, I feel so sorry she had to work for that man."

"Yeah, but that is the fate of us, commoners. We cannot defy the nobles."

After listening to their conversation, Zero frowned. Was serving that Count really that hard? Or was there something else he's missing? Come to think of it, the head chef had said something similar earlier... Perhaps there was more going on with Siesta's new job than he first thought...

His meeting with Colbert could wait, the reploid decided. Right now, he ought to focus all his attention on figuring out what had really happened to his maid-friend... The reploid looked at the back of his young 'master' and decided to start his investigation with her. "Hey Louise, you know a lot of nobles around here, right?"

Louise stopped and turned to him, frowning. "Yeah?" she replied.

"Can I ask you something?"

The girl turned her back to her familiar and continued walking to her destination. "What is it?"

Although minor, Zero could tell she was irritated, but he wasn't sure why. It could be that was how she was; or maybe her 'special magic practice' - which was supervised by him - had not been going exactly as she planned and she was now disappointed about it. Then again, it might be something else entirely, he mused... Whatever it was, she had been frowning quite a lot lately, ever since her recovery to be exact, he noted. But anyway, he decided to push all those thoughts behind him for now and get back on topic. "Count Mott, do you know him?"

She narrowed her eyes at his question. "A little," she replied with a measuring tone. Her eyes were cautiously studying her familiar. "What is it that you want to know?"

'_Heh, so she wanted to test where my intentions lies,'_ the reploid mused. "Well, you know, I had a friend who had recently been transferred to work for him as a maid. I was wondering if the man was very strict with his servants. It would seem not too many people around here want to work for the guy," he said, giving her an overview of things as he followed her inside the dining hall.

"That's what have been bothering you this whole time, Zero," said Derflinger suddenly and unexpectedly just as Louise took her sit at the dining table. The ancient blade had actually noticed a subtle change in Zero's mood from this morning, which was generally happy. When the reploid came back around noon to pick up his sword, the sentinel blade picked up a slight anxious aura around him. Putting together the conversation between the two just now, the old wise sword had pretty much figured out of what this was all about.

"You know something I don't?" said Zero, turning his head and narrowing his eyes as he regard his ancient blade.

"Heh, when a noble appoints a young maid by name, it usually means she is to become his mistress. You don't even know that, Zero?"

'_Mistress?!'_ Zero eyes widened slightly. He reflected upon his talk with Siesta the day before. Everything suddenly clicked, and he realized the severity of the situation. "Sorry Louise, I just remembered I got something important to ask Professor Colbert. Um, your magic practice will have to wait."

"W-wait what?!" Louise had been sitting in her sit, listening to her familiar talking with his sword. At first, when her familiar's question was directed at her, she thought she could use that as a chance to gage into his thoughts. From there, she would gain insight into his mind which might be useful in controlling him. Unfortunately, before she had the chance to come up with a response, that stupid sword of his butted into their conversation uninvited. That in itself was alright if not for the fact that she realized her role as his master was slowly being diminished. After a while, his concentration wasn't on her anymore. To be sidelined by her own familiar was more humiliating than anything else; and so when he basically ignored her and left, she exploded. "Damn it, Zero, where do you think you are going! Get back here!" She quickly chased after him, but he was just way too fast and disappeared around the corner.

-z-z-

"Grgh, damn that stupid Mott!"

Zero was about to go find Colbert and get Mott's 'address' when he heard Guiche cursing the name of the person he was going to crush. A person with a grudge against this Mott character? Hah, that makes it even better, he thought. Like some sort of unholy wraith, the reploid sneaked up from behind the blond boy, grabbed and then dragged him into some dark corner of the academy. "Yo, Guiche. It seems you are quite familiar with this Count Mott person," the hunter said, smiling sinisterly and looking absolutely like a psychotic maniac out for blood. "Care to share some of those information with me?"

"Z-Zero," Guiche gulped his response. One second he was walking down a well lit corridor inside the academy cursing out one of his family's most hated enemy, the next he found himself pinned to the wall in some dark corner by an insanely strong familiar. Understandably, he was shaking.

"Come on Guiche, you can tell me," the reploid said. He observed Guiche a bit. The blond boy was more or less frozen in fear. Sensing his intimidation tactic was getting him nowhere, Zero tried a milder approach. Releasing the boy and put some distance between them, the reploid smiled, "It seems you and I share a common dislike of this Count Mott, so I need you to tell me everything you know about him."

Left with some breathing room and realizing the familiar was not targeting him, Guiche got his composure back and started acting like his usual self. He decided to play 'hard to get' and said, "And why should I do that, commoner?" After all, they weren't exactly on the best terms with each other...

"Haven't you heard of the phrase: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

"Humph, I have nothing to say to a commoner like you, especially someone who don't understand fragility of a lady's heart," said Guiche in his usual self-important manner and reminded the familiar of the trouble he had gone through because of him.

"Oh really?" said Zero dangerously. He was about to remind the boy the position he was in, but then something else came to the reploid's mind and he decided to use that instead. "Hmm, you know, I always wondered how fragile a lady's heart really is. Perhaps, I should learn from watching you," the reploid smiled nonchalantly. Just when Guiche was getting this self satisfying look, the reploid's expression turned into a smirk and spoke again, "Oh and, how was the soufflé you had last night, Guiche?" As expected, the boy's eyes went wide almost immediately. "Was it any good? Shall I ask Montmorency to join in with you next time and see for herself? I bet she would love to have a bite on such exquisite treat. Don't you agree, oh Mister 'Expert on a Lady's Fragile Heart'?" the reploid laughed. Seeing Guiche's shocked face, Zero taunted further. "What do you say, Guiche? Come on, I am so desperate to see what you can 'teach' me."

"Y-You wouldn't dare." Guiche gave the familiar a dirty glare.

"Try me." Zero smirked in return.

Guiche nervously looked to his left and right but finally conceded in defeat. "Grr...fine, fine! I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but you must stay silent about Katie and I."

Zero gestured him to keep going while smiling amusingly.

Taking that as a yes, Guiche took in a deep breath and stared at the familiar seriously. "My family and Count Mott have been at odds with one another for quite some times now," he began. Once he got started, he dwelled deeper into it; and his face contorted into anger. "Grr, that arrogant jerk always boast to others how intelligent he was and how he had beaten my father in a chess game in the past therefore he's better suited to be an army general. Hah, as if! But since he is an imperial messenger and had many high ranking nobles behind him, we hadn't taken action against him." Guiche was getting more and more angry by the second. He began ranting on and on about how he was going to tear that 'stupid smile' off of that Count's face...

'_An imperial messenger that went toe to toe with an army general? This could prove tricky,'_ thought Zero. Good thing that he retained enough presence of his mind to ask before going after such guy. And Luckily, Guiche happened to know all about him. _'A well connected noble...'_ he thought. Unlike previous 'incidents', he realized he cannot afford to be rash about it this time around. If he screwed this up somehow, it won't be just him that will be in the 'frying pan'. The spill over, this time, would most likely cause trouble for everyone around him...

Thinking more tactically, the reploid looked in Guiche's direction. Given the boy's earlier reaction, Mott had most likely been somewhere inside the academy recently or even now. That means there should be some times left before that rotten noble could put his hand on Siesta. Meanwhile, he needed more info. He refocused his attention at the blond hair boy who was still ranting about his revenge against the imperial messenger. "Heh, if he can do that to an army general, he must be quite skilled," the reploid goaded.

Guiche heard that and snapped, "Hah, the only thing he is skilled at is playing chess! It is the main reason why many nobles in the royal court think he is intelligent and favored him! But father always said: real wars are much more complicated. There are many unpredictable elements that you wouldn't find in a simple game of chess!" And he began praising his father's teaching...

"What else can you tell me about him? His deeds as an imperial messenger; his likes or dislikes; anything?" asked Zero, interrupting Guiche's rants. While the boy's family dynamic with the Count was interesting and all, what Zero wanted were readily made information that he could use to free Siesta. In other words, he needed to find some weaknesses. Preferably, weaknesses such as corruption scandals or some other information in which he could use as blackmails. If not, at least something that he could trade with the guy...

"I am not sure how good of a job he does as an imperial messenger, but I know he loves young women."

"Eh, like you?" Zero blurted out.

"Wh-what! H-How dare you comparing me with th-that vulgar!" said Guiche, his face contorting into anger. After a while though, it was switched into his usual 'self-important smirk'. "I, Guiche de Grammont, will only take ladies who willing accompany me to the wonderful world of romance..." he boasted. "And this is no boast, but since my charm is so great..."

"Right, right; my bad. I should never have question your way with the ladies..." said the reploid. Guiche glared at him, dissatisfied. "...And your irresistible charm," the reploid added a second later, massaging his temple while shaking his head. Guiche, however, didn't seem to notice Zero's shaking head and simply smiled. Seeing the blond boy smiling in self satisfaction, the hunter quickly seized his opportunity and said, "So, um, let's get back on the topic, Guiche. Is anything else you can tell me about this imperial messenger?"

"Humph, I heard he is a book collector. Currently, he's trying to collect a certain book from the Zerbst family."

"A book?" Zero muttered. _'Could it be...'_

"I heard the book was supposed to be every man's treasure," whispered Guiche. His face was all red. His eyes were moving left and right, nervously making sure no one was around to hear him. "Supposedly, it will increase any man's passion without fail!"

"..." He thought it would be something like that. Still, this is just the perfect. He now had just the kind of information he needed to force that imperial messenger's hand. Now, there's just one last thing he needed to confirm before conducting his operation: 'Saving Siesta's Grace'. "You said he is good in the game of chess right?" Zero waited until Guiche nodded before saying, "I was wandering: what are the rules for that game?"

...

...

...

"Wait, that's it? Are you sure? Is there any hidden rule or rules you forgot to mention?"

"It's a game of chess. What kind of hidden rules are you expecting?"

"..." This was certainly not what he expected. Two different worlds, two different civilizations coming up with the exact same board game and the exact same rule set, what are the chances... Perhaps, chess really 'is' an universal game to measure ones intelligence - even if most reploid had considered it to be either pointless or obsolete...

"Well then, thank you Guiche. Now, I will be able to 'avenge' your father," Zero laughed and left.

"..." Guiche watched Louise's familiar leaving, thinking he is a complete lunatic...

* * *

In accordance to Guiche, Zero arrived to his destination after a few minutes of 'light jogging'. Upon arrival, he saw a well-dressed man getting off a carriage at the front garden of a huge mansion. The guards immediately bowed their head when the man walked by, and Zero instantly knew this man was Count Mott. Just as he suspect: the rotten noble was out earlier.

The reploid observed the imperial messenger a little more. The man was in his mid-thirties to maybe early forties. Like many other nobles Zero had seen, this man carried around with him a certain air of confidence - or more like arrogance really...

In any case, the hunter decided to act. He walked right up to the front gate. He didn't get any further as he was stopped by the guards. Undeterred, he simply said, "Would you please inform Count Mott that I got an interesting book from the Zerbst family, and I wish to have an audience with him?" The guard took his message and went inside the mansion. Not long after that, he was summoned inside.

-z-z-

"I heard you had a special book from the Zerbst family," said the Count. He was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed in a conference room. Two guards were standing by his side.

"I do," replied Zero.

"Show me!"

The reploid held back a smirk and took out a certain red box engraved with a distinct pattern. It was Kirche's heirloom in which he 'borrowed' when she and her salamander were not around...

Mott saw the distinct pattern on the box and recognized it was from the Zerbst family. "Give me that!" he commanded, getting all impatient.

"Count Mott, you didn't really expect I came all the way over here simply to give this to you for free did you?"

Hearing such teasing tone, Mott came back to his sense and regarded the commoner before him with a measuring gaze. "What is it that you want, commoner?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. _'So he wanted to play games with me huh? Let's see how far he can get, commoner!'_ he thought arrogantly.

"Siesta," Zero announced. "I came on the behaves of the...academy staffs. They would like to have their hardworking coworker back where she belongs."

'_That's it?'_ the Count thought, both surprised and a little disappointed. With such a rare item at play, he expected a much more difficult task like promoting certain imbeciles to some important positions or help out with destroying some high ranking noble families within the royal court. Seriously, what other reason could this commoner had for coming out here with such a highly sought after item other than to fulfill a difficult request by his master's. Getting back a common maid wasn't even on his list of possibilities. Years of backdoor dealings inside the royal court had taught him to not see things simply. There were a number of issues surrounding this whole deal. First of all, he had no idea who the master of this commoner was. There was a good chance he came from the Zerbst family since he had that distinctive box with him, but what could they hope to get out of this? Thinking further on that line of thoughts, this whole thing could be some sort of trap to lure him in, though he wasn't sure how or for what purpose. However, what he did understand was that the box this commoner had most likely contained what he had been seeking for a long, long time. Now that it was right before his eyes, he certainly wouldn't want to miss his chance to get it. As he watched the commoner fumbling around with the box a bit, he realized there was yet another problem: the box may have been from the Zerbst family, but there was no telling the content itself was-

"And just to show you this is not an empty box," the hunter said, almost as if he had read the noble's mind. He unlocked the box and removed the item. Holding it up high, he let everyone to see its 'exotic' cover.

With his doubts removed, the Count ordered, "Bring me Siesta!" As Mott waited for the maid to appear, he noticed for the first time the commoner was carrying two swords behind his back. One of them had a golden handle decorated with colorful jewels. The other one was more plain looking in a pretty white scabbard. Narrowing his eyes, he began to think. "What are you up to carrying those things on your back?"

"Huh? Oh those?" said Zero, a little caught off guard. "...Er, well you know, erm, it can be quite a dangerous world out there these days, what's with the important item...um, I am carrying, so they arre for umm...my protection," the reploid finished somewhat idiotically.

"Tch, you didn't need me for protection. I am not weapon enough for you anyway," Derflinger suddenly spoke in a bitter tone which surprised the Count.

"Oh come on, Derf, you're still upset about that?"

"Tch."

Zero sighed, "How many times must I tell you..."

'_Hah, having arguments with his own weapon? Perhaps he really was just an idiot,'_ the Count mused. The talking sword was quite a surprised, but it was the confident of the commoner that he had took note of earlier. That changed when he shifted his eyes to take a look at the other sword on the commoner's back. It was a large golden broadsword that 'looked' very powerful; however, he had very good eyes for treasures like these. That sword may have looked powerful, but it was more of a really expensive decor. Seeing the commoner reacting to his better sword, however, his earlier thoughts of this man might be an assassin or would cause him problem were pretty much out the window. As he observed more of the commoner's antics, his opinion of him was dropping like a stone... Before his mind could conjure up anything else though, a door opened and a maid walked in.

"Z-Zero-san? What are you doing here?"

"Why, I am here to bring you back to the academy, Siesta."

"Siesta is here. Now, give me that book!" Mott demanded, interrupting them.

"Oh, right," said the reploid. He was about to give the book to the approaching guard, but made a move to held it back. "Simply exchanging a maid for this book is a little too boring, Count Mott, don't you agree?"

"Oh, and what are you proposing, commoner?"

"I heard you are good in the game of chess. Why don't we have a match? If I win, Siesta comes with me and so does this book. If you win, Siesta stays and you get to keep it," the reploid offered, confidently holding up Kirche's family heirloom. Siesta, however, was pulling his other sleeve with worry.

"You sure sounded pretty confident, commoner," Mott commented, hiding a smile. "You do realize who you are challenging right?"

"Of course, but I am the 'adventurous type'. I love taking risks." Zero answered. "Oh and while we are at it, I got this nice little sword that was said to have been forged by a Germania's mage-alchemist, Sir Spee. It was said to be able to cut through steel effortlessly and was valued at around three-thousand new gold, or so I heard. Why don't we place a bet on this as well? Three-thousand new gold for this fine sword. Are you up for it, Count Mott?"

"Zero-san!" Siesta hissed a warning.

"What? The academy didn't pay me enough for the job," Zero smiled.

Siesta immediately slapped her hand over her face, embarrassed. She knew him long enough to figure out that last comment was a joke. She also knew the academy didn't send him to get her back. She simply wasn't important enough. He was doing this on his own accord. And while she had faith in him, she wasn't sure why he raised the stake so high...

The noble, on the other hand, simply laughed. Although the sword the commoner put up did not worth the amount he was asking for, the noble didn't make an attempt to correct it either. After all, he was going to win anyway, so it didn't really matter how much the commoner thought the sword was worth. In fact, if this idiot thought it was worth three thousand new gold, it only meant that was how naive this commoner was. Immediately, his opinion of this man was changed from mildly intelligent at the start to utterly stupid and greedy as of now.

"I take your laughter a yes then, Count Mott," said Zero. "Alright, shall we put this agreement in ink so that there will be no denial afterward." Again, the imperial messenger didn't answer. He simply smiled.

Soon enough, Zero readied the document, signed it and used Louise's Vallière, family seal he took from her room to put a stamp of approval on it. He presented it to the noble soon after. The noble was so amused, he barely even looked at the document before signing it and putting on his own seal. All the while, Siesta was questioning whether Zero knew what he was doing. Then she saw her would be savior pulling out a book titled: 'The Basic Rules of Chess' from one of his pockets and began looking through it...

"Um, Z-Zero-san, what is it that you are reading?" asked Siesta. Her wariness suddenly increased ten folds, and she began to question whether he could actually pull this off and save her...

"Oh, this? Heh, as you can see, it is a rule book for chess," Zero replied casually and kept reading.

"Why?" Siesta asked, her blood suddenly turning very cold...

"Hmm? Well, I was kind of in a hurry and never got the chance to properly go over the rules so," the reploid answered nonchalantly. "I got to thank Professor Colbert for lending me the pass to Fenrir's Library and the kind clerk who found this book for me," he added while reading his rule book.

Everyone in the room was stumped at Zero's statement. Siesta, in particular, got so pissed that she yanked him to one side rather forcefully and glared at him. "Zero-san, don't tell me you don't even know the rules of a chess game!" the angry maid hissed. Her tiny hope that Zero would somehow save her was pretty much dashed with his revelation. After all, how could he even hope to win a game of chess if he doesn't even know how to play it!

"What? No, Guiche explained it to me earlier today, but I wanted to make absolutely sure he didn't miss anything," the reploid said, smiling somewhat awkwardly. His words were designed to lower Mott's guard so that he may have an easier time later on. His smiles, on the other hand, were meant to ease the maid's concerns, however...

"Zero-san..." Siesta's expression became unreadable. The urge to smack him over his head was unbearable at this point...

Zero saw the maid's face and realized he was in trouble. Acting quickly, he stood, put his hands out in front of him, and said, "Um, don't worry, Siesta. Although this is my first time playing chess, I am confident in my ability to win. Ahahahaha." Apparently, his scheme didn't workout as planned with Siesta, and he began nervously backing away from the maid while trying to defuse the situation. He recognized the look she was giving him. He had seen it many times before with Louise and realized the maid was about to explode on him just like his tiny, pink haired landlady always ended up doing...

Mott watched the interaction between this commoner and his maid in amusement. He began laughing uncontrollably. To imagine an uneducated commoner challenging him to a game of chess, and on top of that, the idiot didn't even know how to play the game to begin with; it was amusing beyond words. It was also a complete waste of his time and an insult to his intelligent. Honestly, he should be feeling pretty angry right now, but he didn't. During his lifetime, he had encountered many types of people. Most of them weren't very smart and many can be classified as stupid but never had he came across someone like this. Someone this arrogant, someone this... it was like there was no limit to his stupidity. After a minute of laughing, Mott finally calmed down. He would soon get what he wanted; and since this was the first time this commoner plays chess, he got nothing to fear. He always enjoyed seeing commoners struggle, and he knew he will thoroughly enjoy this one.

Enough time had been wasted since the start of this nonsense; Mott decided to move on and said, "That act was quite amusing, commoner. But jokes aside, I think it is time I teach you a lesson in challenging me, Tristain's grand chest master."

"Aww, so soon? I was hoping you would give me a more few minutes to familiarize myself with the rules."

"Humph, I hope that was not another one of your jokes, commoner. Stalling will get you nowhere."

"What, stalling? Why, I would never do that, Count Mott," replied Zero. He took a glance at Siesta and breathed a sigh of relieve as her 'murderous aura' was gone and was replaced with concern. "Well, if you insisted, I guess we can proceed right away. Although, being Tristain's grand chest master like yourself going against a commoner like me, one would expect you would at least allow a little time for a commoner like me to mentally prepare myself, but oh well." In truth, he doesn't need any extra time. He simply wanted to mess with the noble's head a little before he starts...

"Two minutes, commoner!" Mott declared, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

...

...

...

"I am very sorry, Count Mott, I but believe this is checkmate," said Zero, smiling calmly.

"What?! N-No! Th-that is impossible! How could I lose to a commoner!"

"You did it, Zero-san! You win, but how? I thought this was the first time you played chess."

"And it was," the reploid answered honestly, smiling.

Unfortunate for the Tristain's 'grand chess master', there was a reason why most reploid deemed playing chess to be a complete waste of time. Chess was essentially a finite two-player, zero-sum perfect-information game. Luck had no part in it, and there was a perfect solution that would render one to never lose a single game. It's no different than the childish game of tic-tac-toe, really. All one needed was the understanding of the 10^120 possible states of the board...which was not an issue for most modern day reploids. With certain algorithms, such finite number was a piece of cake, therefore, if two reploids were to play against each other and they were both serious enough about winning, there will be no winner no matter how many times they play...

"Maybe I am just that smart," said Zero, turning to Siesta with one of those mysterious smiles. "...or he was just not as good as he claimed," the reploid added while looking at the noble who was still in denial. "Anyway, Count Mott, I will be taking Siesta along with the three-thousand new gold with me now." The reploid proceeded to leave but the imperial messenger got in the way.

"No! There is no way I could lose to a commoner like you! This must be a fluke! I demand a rematch!"

Zero raised an eyebrow, but then smirked, "That is fine by me, Count Mott, but I don't play for free. What are you prepared to bet in our next match?"

"Guards, go down to the treasure vault and bring me..."

* * *

It was almost dinner time, and Louise had yet to seen a trace of her familiar anywhere. Once again, her familiar had gone off somewhere doing who knows what, and she was pissed. It was almost as if her existence as his master didn't even matter. Frustrating as that may be, it was actually just a partial reason why she was in general bad mood with her familiar these past few days.

Truth to be told, the underlying issue she had with her familiar extended all the way back to the whole Fouquet fiasco. Namely, she suspected he was responsible for getting her sick. His official explanation on the matter was vague. When asked, he would shift around uncomfortably and avoid eye contacts. The excuse he used following that was Fouquet somehow blasted her onto a pile of poisonous plants. That was how she got sick, he said; but she knew better! The patterns of blistering skin on her didn't looked anything like an accident; not one bit!

She tried asking Tabitha for answers, but the quiet girl simply giggled a little and walked away. That added to her suspicion that her familiar was behind those couple days of suffering she had. So far, however, she had no evidence to show for...

If she got just the slightest of evidence, she would then have all the justification to vent her anger and frustration on him and there would be no squabbling coming from him. She could just imagine the looks on his face and how much pleasure she would get out of it. She could even use that as ammunition in their future struggle for dominance/obedience where she was sure to win! Right now, though, she got nothing on him, and because of that, she was left with nothing but frustration...

Since she suspected he was behind her illness, she decided to keep him close so she could monitor his every move. While she's at it, she decided to enlist his help with her spells as well. She knew he was not well verse with magic - or if he even knew any - but he was experienced in fighting at least so he could offer her insights on that. Admittedly, she was a bit too hasty and ambitious when she suggested testing out her explosive spell to the highest degree. She backed off from that idea and listened to his ways of doing things. Not that she liked it, but he was the experienced one here and she had asked for his assistance. It would only be natural that she followed his advices, and she could tolerate that to a certain degree; but then, he started acting bossy, telling her doing this or that. It was almost as if he had forgotten who was the master here. That was what really pissed her off the most these past few days, and when his 'come and go as he pleased' attitude surfaced earlier, that was her last straw...

As Louise made her way to the dining hall, she was in a constant lookout for her familiar. Actually she had been on a lookout for that ungrateful familiar of hers ever since his disappearance earlier the day. She decided she's going to give him a piece of her mind the instant she caught sight of him. So far, she didn't spot a trace of him. Even that whore, Zerbst, her familiar's super stalker, appeared to have no clue where he was. Although, for some reason, that shameless woman seemed more interested in playing with her own salamander today than chasing after someone else's familiar. _'Humph, it's about time she's doing what she was suppose to do!'_ Louise thought.

"Um, excuse me, Miss Vallière, do you know where your familiar went? There is something I like to talk to him about."

"Mr. Colbert?" Louise turned around and looked at the professor in surprise. Then she remembered what her familiar said earlier... "Wait, didn't you see him earlier? He said he was going to see you."

"Really? But I haven't seen him all day," Colbert replied. He watched his student's reaction to his statement and decided it's best to speak and distract her from whatever she was currently thinking. "Um, Miss Vallière, when exactly did he told you he wanted to see me?"

"Around noon, during our lunch time," answered Louise. She tried to appear calm and respectful to her teacher, but her cheeks were already quite puffed...

"...I was attending a staff meeting at the time," Colbert muttered mostly to himself. He didn't like the sound of this. A potentially highly dangerous being was on the loose, wandering around with no one knowing where he was or what he's doing... He turned to Louise, trying to get more clues as to where the familiar might have gone, only to find the girl gritting her teeth... "Um, Miss Vallière, if I may ask, is there anything else he said before he left, anything...unusual?"

"He asked me about Count Mott and some maid..." said Louise, frowning. Now that she thought about it, that was a little odd.

"Count Mott?" said Colbert, frowning. He saw the man earlier the day but failed see what that had to do with the familiar. He took a few seconds to examine what he had been told and... _'A maid!'_ he thought; his eyes suddenly widened with such revelation and realized he was a little late to do anything about it. At this point, he could only hope he guessed wrong and that the situation was not as dire as he imagined...

"Mr. Colbert, you believe he went to see Count Mott?" said Louise. It was more of a statement than a question...

"Did you just said Count Mott?" Guiche suddenly butted into their conversation. He just so happened to walk by when he overheard them talking about the Count. "Come to think of it, Louise, your familiar said something about avenging my father or something and asked me where he lives. I was wondering how he was..." Before Guiche could finish, Louise and Colbert bolted out of the dining hall like their hair was on fire.

* * *

As Colbert urged his horse to go faster, he can't help but started thinking back to a particular encounter with Louise's familiar...

-Flashback Start-

_As soon as Colbert entered Fenrir's Library alongside Zero, the familiar immediately headed toward a particular section of the library. Despite being the first time he brought him inside, the blond haired familiar appeared rather familiar with the place. He wasted no time in gathering a number of 'interesting books' into his arms. 'It was almost as if he had been here before...' the professor thought, which should not be possible since Fenrir's Library was one of the more well-guarded places in the academy... _

"_Here are a number of books containing some interesting information, Professor. I would like to hear your opinion on them."_

"_..." Colbert stared at Zero in surprise. His preliminary assumption about the familiar was wrong..._

_Seeing the professor's shocked expression prompted Zero to smirk. "What? You didn't really think this was the first time I'd been to this place did you?"_

"_..." Colbert continued to stare, a slight frown was starting to form. He now understood why the headmaster was so serious when he said not to ever underestimate this one._

"_Heh, in any case, I alone won't be able to understand or decode all of these. Your help are invaluable and I very much appreciate it, professor," said Zero, changing his teasing tone to a more sincere one. He then handed over the books he gathered to the professor. "And with this," he said, waving his library pass. "I'll now be able to get in and out much easier than before, and I thank you two for doing that."_

-Flashback End-

Colbert had reported the incident to the headmaster afterward, but there was a lack of response coming from the old mage...which made him wondered if Osmond already knew of the familiar's activities in the Fenrir's Library... Nonetheless, he knew watching over this familiar was going to be a tough and complicated task; he just never imagined it would turned into something like this. While he didn't believe Zero would go on a rampage and massacre the entire household of Count Mott - he's just not the type of person to do something like that - the professor was fairly certain the noble was in quite a bit of trouble right now. The most likely cases would be Zero holding up the noble somewhere inside the mansion, torturing the man, but at least Mott would still be alive. That would be considered one of the better scenarios. There was also a slight chance that Count Mott might have been able to hold off the familiar too, but he didn't really think Mott was capable enough to do that. In the worst case, he might found Mott already dead upon they arrived. Then, it would really be big trouble for all of them... Given Zero had tried so hard sticking to a low profile all this time, however, the professor found that to be unlikely either. Still, the familiar was far too unpredictable for him to drawn any conclusion. He could only hope Zero hadn't done anything irreversible...

While Colbert was imagining all sorts of horrible things that Zero might have done to Count Mott already, Louise was, more or less, worried over what Count Mott had done to her familiar instead and what kind of trouble he might have gotten her into already. She had heard Count Mott was a powerful triangle mage, and she believed her familiar stood no chance against a mage of that level. That all meant he was already captured and was now being 'interrogated'. In the worst case, he might have already been killed or beaten half dead...

The two made their way to front gate of Count Mott's estate and was stopped by the two guards stationed there. The two nobles quickly dismounted from there respective horses and approached the guards. "We are here to see Count Mott. It's urgent," said Colbert, trying to appear calm. When the two guards looked at each other with uncertainty, the professor got impatient and stood really close to one of guard, practically glaring at him. "Your Count may be in danger, soldier! Show us the way!"

Startled, the two common guards backed off and let the two nobles in. Louise, on the other hand, didn't quite know why her professor would make such a claim, but then again, it had gotten them inside so she didn't really care. The two nobles were led into the mansion. They stopped in front of a large door that leads to a conference room.

The two nobles wasted no time and quickly pushed open the door. As soon as the door opened, however...

"Checkmate."

"WH-WHAT?! N-NO! TH-THIS HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF A MISTAKE! I-IT CAN'T BE CKECKMATE YET!"

Inside the room, there were boxes after boxes of treasures lying all over the room ranging from stacks of gold coins to piles rare gemstones and many fine art pieces. In the center of the room, they found Count Mott in a standing position, staring over a chess game in disbelieve. Instead of being a strong and dignified noble he usually presented himself, the man Louise and Colbert saw was a man on the verge of a mental breakdown. He was constantly scratching and pulling his hair in all direction while screaming about how he hadn't lost his chess match yet. Clearly, the noble had seen better days.

Across from Mott sat Zero. Unlike the distraught noble, the familiar was sitting calmly and watched with an eerie smile. In his hands were a couple of super rare gems. He was playing hand tricks with them as if they belonged to him. Finally, there was a pretty looking maid standing behind him looking ecstatic. Louise recognized the maid being the one that gave her a fantastic massage a few nights ago but couldn't recall her name. Likewise, Colbert vaguely remembered seeing this maid around the academy before but couldn't remember her name,...

Over all, both teacher and student did not expect to see such a sight; and for a few seconds, they were at a lost as to what they were doing or why they were even here...

"Yo, Louise, Professor Colbert," greeted Zero. "What brings you here?"

"Grgh." Upon hearing his carefree voice, a tick mark appeared on Louise's face and she suddenly remembered the reason she was here. Putting on a fierce glare, she said, "Zero, what were you doing here?!"

"Erm..." Zero fell back a little and answered, "As you can see, I was, um...playing chess."

Louise wanted to smack her head at his answer but then...

"One more game, commoner!" Mott demanded.

"Enough is enough, Count Mott. You have already lost much of your fortune. It's time to stop and concede defeat," Zero smiled, offering some valuable advice. "There is no point throwing away whatever you have left. It's best to stop now before it's too late, Count Mott."

"Defeat? Me? Impossible!" said Mott. Then he turned and pointed to one of his servant and ordered, "You, go down to my vault and get me ten thousand new gold!"

"B-But Count Mott, there is nothing left in the vault. Maybe it's time to stop and reconsider-"

"Silence!"

"Heh, you should listen to your servant and give up, Count Mott," said Zero, smirking. "It'll be better for your mental health."

"I said silence, you impudent commoner! We will have this match and I will be victorious!"

"Fine, fine, Count Mott, but just as your servant said, your treasure vault now stood empty. What else can you use for out next match?" said Zero.

"I still have surrounding farmlands that I owned! I will bet those against everything I have lost!" Mott declared. He then walked to some desk and retrieved a small stack of papers. "Here are the documents that I own those lands, commoner! Let us begin!"

Louise watched as Mott was getting more and more unstable. When the noble pulled out those land contracts, she could tell he had clearly lost it. Such small amount of farmland contracts could not be worth to all those treasures presented here. "Zero, that is enough. We are getting out of here," she said. She then turned toward the imperial messenger. "Count Mott, sorry for the intrusion, but I believe we should take our leave now."

"NO! YOU ARE NOT LEAVING! NOBODY IS LEAVING UNTIL WE HAVE ANOTHER GAME!"

"Heh, heh, looks like we are not going anywhere until I finish this one last game with him," said Zero happily and Louise glared. "It's okay, Louise. I have it all under control," Zero reassured in the most carefree of ways. Then he turned to Mott. "Alright, Count Mott, I accept your challenge," said Zero. As usual, he wrote down what they were going to bet, signed and stamped it, before handing it over to the noble to do the same. And soon, the game began...

...

...

...

"So close, Count Mott, but I believe this is yet another checkmate," said Zero, smiling. The match this time didn't even last ten minutes. The noble's psyche was so messed up by now that he wasn't able to put up much of a match and made numerous mistakes.

"WHAT! NO! NO! NOOO!" Again, Mott was glaring at the chess board, trying to find a way to say it wasn't over.

"I thank you for all of these, Count Mott," said Zero, indicating all the treasures around him. It was meant to rub it in the noble's face, but as Mott was still in his own little world of denial, it was more or less meaningless. He might as well say it to a wall...

The reploid quickly forget about the delusional noble and pocketed the few rare gems he had on hand rather absentmindedly. He looked at the other treasures he won and frowned. "Hmm...this could be a problem..." he muttered to himself.

"What is it, Zero-san?"

"Well...it's just that there are so much stuff here. It'll be tough taking them all the way back to the academy," said the reploid.

"Zero, you aren't serious about taking any of these back with us are you?" Louise looked at her familiar as if he was insane.

"Why not? I won them all fair and square after all. It's only natural that bring them back with me," Zero replied nonchalantly.

"Zero, hadn't you realized what you just done?" Louise hissed, glaring at Zero while pulling him to one side. She used her familiar's body to shield her from Mott's direct line of sight while taking peeks at the still shocked noble. "Mott is a messenger of the royal court. People like him have strong connections to powerful nobles. You really think you could get away taking stuff from him?"

"I believe Miss Louise may be correct on this matter, Mr. Zero," said Colbert suddenly, deciding to join in on the conversation. He was surprised by Zero's actions thus far. It turned out so much differently than what he had imagined that he couldn't help but watched from the sideline, and watching he had been. As impressed as he was with Zero, however, he sensed things could still go in the direction he feared most and decided he had to intervene. "We should leave now before more complication arises," said the professor as he stared at the distraught imperial messenger.

"Z-Zero-san..." said Siesta, looking a bit worried.

Zero looked at them and sighed, "You guys are worrying too much. I-"

"I, Jour de Mott, challenge you to a duel, commoner! If I win, all of these return back to me!" Mott suddenly declared. He was glaring at the commoner. His face was all red, and his eyes were burning with hatred. All in all, he was still far from stable but at least lucid enough to direct his anger and put on some demand...

"And why should I accept such unreasonable duel?" said Zero. Unlike Louise, Colbert, and Siesta, he was totally unfazed and very much amused. His questioning of the logic in accepting the proposed duel didn't really mean he was afraid or didn't want to accept the fight. He simply wanted to mess with the noble's head further. Not to mention, if this Count wanted to dig himself deeper, there was absolutely no need to stop such foolishness...

"B-Because if you don't, I..." Mott paused to think up of an excuse. Nothing really came to his mind, but he knew if he doesn't do something now, he would stand to lose everything he had worked for his entire life. In desperate, his mind came up with something that bypassed the law. "I-I declare you forfeit, and all of the things you won from me will once again belong to me!"

"Hmm, so nobles are allowed things such as forcing others into unreasonable duels?" said Zero in a nonchalant way.

Louise, Colbert, and Siesta were getting more and more anxious by the second. The way Zero was behaving felt very familiar. It was almost like he was leading the noble down toward a certain path - almost like a taunt... They had seen where this had led to in the past, and they had a sinking feeling they were watching history repeating itself...

"H-Humph, that's right, commoner," declared Mott. While there's no such law for nobles forcing commoners into duels in order to gain their processions, however, it's not that hard to work around it either. As long as the commoner in question agreed to the duel, there's no problem. Laws meant to protect commoner were murky at best. Now that his mind was getting clearer, he suddenly remembered something. He narrowed his eyes at the commoner. On the man's back, he noticed a dull looking sword which he knew could talk. The more expensive looking one was somewhere among the piles of treasure around them but that doesn't really matter. Soon enough, Mott began to smirk as he realized he could turn this around simply by accusing the commoner of assault. Then he would have the excuse to kill the commoner and arrest the other two nobles especially if they resist. It's not his first choice of action as it's quite a risky, but it's worth the risk if the commoner refuse to duel and he had to lose everything. Gaining confidence, he added, "If you don't accept, I'll strip you of the right to owning any of these including Siesta."

"Hmm, you are not leaving me with much choice here, Count Mott, but that's okay, I accep-"

Before Zero could finish his sentence, Louise quickly elbowed him and forcefully dragged him to one side. Colbert also reacted and went by Mott's side trying to calm things down.

"Zero, what do you think you are doing? You are not fighting this duel!" hissed Louise.

'_She's glaring,'_ Zero observed. It almost made him laughed because she just looked so very cute. Still, he summoned a 'straight face' and answered, "But Louise, if I don't accept this duel-"

"Look, you don't have to accept this ridiculous fight," Louise said, interrupting him again. She looked to Siesta and said, "If it is about this maid, I am sure we could convince him to let her go. There is no need to risk fighting him." She knew trying to convince her familiar to do something else once he made up his mind was hard, but she had to try. This was a serious matter. He could die.

"Miss Louise is right, Zero-san. It's too dangerous."

"Nah, I don't like running away from a challenge. If he wanted a fight, I'll give him one."

"Damn it Zero, why won't you ever listen?! He is a triangle mage. You can't win!"

"So? Fouquet was a triangle mage. I'll be fine," said Zero. He was smiling at both girls as if he was talking about how beautiful the weather was. Louise, on the other hand, was like an unstable pressure cooker, ready to go off.

"That was only because Tabitha was with you; 'WE' were with you! Don't you get it? In this duel, you will have to fight him on your own!" screamed the pink haired girl. She was frustrated with him that she wanted to tear at her own hair at the moment - much like what Count Mott did after losing many chess matches against the familiar. "I repeat," she glared. "He is a triangle mage. You. Can't. Win, you stupid fool! You wanted to die!?"

"Relax, Louise. I got it all under control," said Zero, smiling and waving her off much like the time he did before facing off with Guiche. "Heh, I mean I got this awesome ancient ultimate martial arts technique that's guarantee to down a man in one single hit," the reploid proudly exclaimed a second later in order to calm her down, but it was said in a manner that could only be describe as a very crude joke, like he was high on drug or something... This triggered all sort of facial expressions out of the pink hair girl ranging from total disbelieve to raging anger. All of these were quite amusing to the reploid, but before Louise could unleash her rage, he pointed to Mott. "Besides, just look at him," said the reploid, more seriously this time. "Does he look like someone who would simply let us go?" As on queue, Mott pushed Colbert aside and glared heatedly in Zero's direction. While Louise was looking at the Count's direction, the reploid walked forward. "Alright Count Mott, I officially accept your challenge," the hunter announced proudly.

-z-z-

Soon enough, Mott brought Zero outside to his front garden. With a huge water fountain sitting in the middle of a well mowed lawn and far away from the mansion, this was where he planned to duel the commoner. The two nobles from the academy, that troublesome maid of his who basically started all of this and a few guards were instructed to stay near the mansion. It was far enough for them to watch the duel but hard to interfere with it. It was the perfect spot for him to 'punish' this commoner and kill him eventually...

"Before we start, let's get the terms straight," said Zero, breaking whatever dark thoughts Mott was having. "If you win, I will return everything that I won back to you. But what if you lose? What are you prepared to give away?"

"What?!" The noble narrowed his eyes. "You dared asked for something in return? Are you mocking me, commoner? Do you honestly believe you could defeat me in a duel?"

"You didn't seriously expect this duel to happen without you taking on some risk, did you?" mocked Zero. "Count Mott, regardless of my believes, if you don't put something on the table, you would just be seen as a cowardly noble who forced a commoner into an unreasonable duel. You will become a laughing stock even if you win."

"Grr!" The shrew noble gave the statement some thoughts. It's highly unlikely that a commoner would want to duel with a noble ever. It's even more impossible if there was nothing in return for that commoner in question. Even if he won this fight and killed his opponent, his enemies inside the royal court would use this chance and accuse him of wrong doing. But if he was to put something up for this fight, then whatever happened to this commoner can be justify as his own stupidly and selfish greed. He could silence all his critics that way if they ever came...

Grudgingly, the noble came to realize the wisdom of the commoner's words and began thinking of the 'bait' he was going to cast. It had to be something big and valuable. The few small accessories on his body just won't do. Finally came up with a decision, he announced, "My estate, commoner! You can have my estate if you win! Now let us begin!"

"Hold on a second, Count Mott. We haven't decide how to determine the winner yet," said the hunter, cutting off Mott's momentum. He just loved toying with his opponent's mind...

"Isn't it obvious, commoner? When you die, I win!"

"You mean fight to the death? Wow, isn't that going a little too extreme?"

"What, are you afraid?" the Count smirked.

"Of course I am," Zero replied with a 'happy' smile. Smiling even more, he elaborated, "I am still 'young'. I am not prepared to die yet. There are so many things I like to do in this 'wonderful world' like..." Once again, he looked like he was high on drug.

Louise watched as her familiar listed the 'things' he liked to do. She began holding her head in shame. While she didn't believe he could win, she at least thought he would put out a brave face. Instead, he opted to stall with that foul mouth of his and in the most nonsensical fashion. Honestly, he sounded almost as if he was begging his opponent to not kill him...

Contrary to Louise believing that Zero was acting cowardly, Colbert saw his action as offering mercy to his opponent. While he still worried for Mott's safety, at least the familiar seemed to have no interest in taking his opponent's life. That eased the professor's mind a little at least...

As for Siesta, her feelings were somewhere in between the two noble observers. She was smart enough to see through Zero's intention. He was not stalling. He was simply messing around with his opponent's mind. It was a tactic she had seen him use on multiple occasions, with the most recent uses being all those chess matches... Still, he was facing with a powerful mage on his own this time. She'll be lying if she said she wasn't worried. Over the course of knowing him, however, she had grown to trust him. If he's confident he could defeat this noble, then all she could do was to believe in him and watch...

"Fine, fine, what are you proposing?" Mott asked in annoyance after listening to the commoner's nonsense for about a minute. He figured whatever he promised to the commoner about not killing him was pretty much pointless. Once the duel got underway, his spells would be flying. If it just so 'happened' that one of his spell hit this commoner and killed him, that's just 'too bad' for him. The important thing was to get the duel underway right now so he could do exactly just that...

"The first one to yield or unable to continue loses. How about that, Count Mott?"

"Let's get this duel started already, commoner!"

-z-z-

The duel officially started when Zero drew his ancient blade out of its sheath. Immediately, Mott responded with a low-leveled fire spell. Five small fireballs appeared and flew straight toward him.

Colbert watched as the familiar expertly dodged three incoming fireballs and swatted the other two away. He wasted no time crossing the distance between himself and the noble. Once in range, the familiar took a swipe at the noble only to have his sword glided through what seemed to be a wind barrier. Unfazed by his unsuccessful strike, the familiar unleashed a barrage of similar slashes at the wind barrier.

None of Zero's attacks made it past the wall of wind in front of Mott. Suddenly, as if sensing something, the familiar ceased his assault and jumped backward. Just then, a large stalagmite suddenly poked out from where he stood a second ago. If he hadn't pulled back, he would certainly have been skewed by the pointy earth spike. Unfazed, familiar resumed 'charging' at the noble.

'_That's strange...'_ thought Colbert. He had seen this familiar in action. The speed and precision he used against Guiche, even in the earlier part of that duel, were far greater than what he was using right now. From what he can see, Mott would have been pushed to a corner by now if he had fought at that level. _'What is holding him back...?'_

As the professor's mind scrambled for an answer, he vaguely remembered Louise mumbling something about an ultimate martial arts technique before the start of this duel. He gave his student a sideway glance. She appeared to be worried. He looked to Siesta just in case the maid knew something, but she had the same expression as his student. Unable to guess anything, he went back observing the duel...

-z-z-

Mott blocked another attack, this time from his side. He was having a hard time. He primarily used dot leveled spells, because they were easy to cast and took less time. Trying to pin this commoner with such low level spells, however, appeared to be a lost cause as he expertly dodged them all.

From the moment this common...dog struck at his wind barrier and managed to keep his blade, Mott knew this blond may have some skills. Changing the grip at the last second and having that sword glided along his barrier instead of forcing it was one smart move. It allowed him to avoid having his weapon bouncing off of his hand. Only skilled swordsmen could adjust so quickly and accomplish such a feat.

Mott expected this duel would be somewhat entertaining at that point, but he never expected it would turn into something like this. He got to admit he severely underestimated his adversary. Normally, a commoner would be on the ground gravely injured or begging for mercy after one or two of his spells, even dot-leveled spells. Even the more skilled ones would have fallen before him or at least started wavering by now, but this one managed to evade everything without so much a scratch on him and appeared as confident as ever. Frustrated, he decided to get serious and show this commoner why people called him 'The WavePeak Mott'.

First, the noble lined up himself up so that the commoner was in between the water fountain and himself. He then cast a few quick 'windblades' straight at the commoner. As predicted, his opponent dodged, resulting in the water fountain being hit by the wind spells. Such action caused the destruction of the mechanism that had been controlling the water flow of the fountain. With it gone, a huge volume of water started gushing out of the pool.

With the overflow of water, he could execute many water related spells with the barest of effort and he wasted no time in doing that. First, he sent the water geyser even higher into the air. Before the water could fall down as raindrops, he turned them into razor sharp daggers and had them rained down over the commoner's head.

Against all odds, the commoner managed to dodge-roll out of harms way and closed the distance between them. To stop his advance, Mott manipulated the water to form high pressured water columns that sped horizontally toward his opponent from multiple angles. Such tactic managed to halt his progress for a few seconds; but soon enough, the commoner began leaping high, dodging low and closing the distance to within striking range.

Once again, Mott had to summon a wind barrier quickly and parry the blow. A few quick spells were cast to distract the commoner while he moved to a safe distance and the whole pattern began once again...

-z-z-

For such a renowned triangle mage, Mott turned out to be pretty weak, thought Louise. While he was strong enough to be classified as a triangle mage, barely, there's a huge difference between him and other triangle mages she had seen. To put it in perspective: if Tabitha was in the late stage of a triangle mage and on the way of reaching square level, Mott was at the beginning stage.

Not only did his spells lack the power of a properly trained triangle mage, he also appeared to lack the speed to use them in real combat. The only spells he used well were dot level spells which were chained together nicely to form complex attacks. But because those spells had simple trajectories and lacked raw power, her familiar managed to dodge or block them all. Line level spells were used sparingly with slight delays and were never chained into anything. Triangle level spells were few in between and seriously lacked power of a true triangle spell. It was almost as if he was casting them prematurely...

All of these added up to her familiar's advantage, and he was able to deliver a number of counter attacks. Although her familiar's attacks were ultimately not very effective as they were easily deflected by the Count's wind barrier, he was able to drive the noble back. Things went pretty much back and forth between them. _'As expected from a really experienced swordsman,'_ she thought proudly. At her familiar's level, she estimated he could go toe to toe with a line level mage. Since his opponent was only slightly better than that, she figured this duel would end in a draw. It's what she hoped for as she didn't believe her familiar could win this fight. Weak as he may be, Count Mott was still a triangle mage...

In any case, a draw here would be amazing for both herself and her familiar. Louise began to smile, but then, the water fountain broke and the noble suddenly gain a huge advantage. She watched in horror as her familiar was getting more and more on the defensive end of things. He still managed to dodge everything, but he barely had the time to counter and Mott's spells were getting faster. If the onslaught continued, she feared her familiar could not survive. She nervously looked at her teacher to see if he shared her feeling, but he simply appeared puzzled rather than worried. That puzzled her, and she decided to give it a few more minutes before giving in to total panic.

-z-z-

A simple win is no fun, so Zero decided to make it 'entertaining'. In an effort to toy with the noble, he had been taking weak swipes and dodging projectiles that otherwise wouldn't hurt even if they hit. His aim was to make it looked like he was in a real life and death struggle. It was kind of hard because this particular noble he was dueling with was so weak and inexperienced. Seriously, he felt like he was dueling Guiche all over again albeit with a few more variety and maybe slightly stronger spells...

It'd been five minutes since the start of the duel, and Zero had been patiently checking out his opponent's abilities. He was hoping a triangle mage like Mott would be able to surprise him somehow and make this fight a little more exciting, but frankly, it had been of a disappointment. Sure, there were a few surprises here and there with the most notable one being the wind barrier. There was also the 'consecutive water spell offensives' which came off as more of a nuisance. It took him a bit longer to get close to Mott and made fighting at a human level harder; but because of Mott's inexperience, he found all sorts of ways to dodge those. Overall, this triangle mage was a joke when compared to either Tabitha or Fouquet.

Once again, Zero dodged a number of spells, got close to Mott and started hacking away at the wind barrier. "Come on, Count Mott, is that really the best you can do? Heh, you might as well give up and hand me your mansion now," the reploid said nonchalantly. He watched as Mott gritted his teeth.

"YOU DARE MOCK ME, COMMONER!" the noble screamed. He began to lose his cool and unleashed spells after spells faster than before. The only problem was that the spells were uncoordinated and less powerful.

"Nope, just saying," replied Zero as he dodged everything. It seemed his little 'encouragement' did little to improve the noble's performance. Another careless opening appeared, and Zero managed to slash at Mott's barrier. The fight was beginning to get boring. It's not like he couldn't overpower Mott's defensive spell if he wanted to - it wasn't particularly that strong (by his standard anyway) - but since there was a more 'appropriate method' to end this fight, he changed the grip on his sword again and let it glide alongside the barrier.

Finally having seen enough, Zero began putting together a rough plan. In order to get the 'spectacular result' he desires, he needed to accomplish a few things.

The first thing the reploid needed was the understanding of Mott's wind barrier. Originally, he was planning to overpower the barrier when the time comes for him to make his move. The problem with that was calculating the right amount of strength to both break the barrier and cause the appropriate damage to the noble. After all, if he got it wrong, he could have easily killed the 'poor guy'. Now that he had seen the wind barrier so many times, there was a change of plan. As it turned out, Mott's wind barrier was not a full body shield like Tabitha's. Although stronger, his spell only covers an area of about a third of a sphere with the outer edge being the weakest. What's more, the user had to hold the staff out in the direction of its intended deployment...

The next thing Zero needed was to redirect Mott's attention away from his 'intended target', and to start it off...

"Prepare to lose, Count Mott. I shall defeat you with my super technique," Zero suddenly declared. He then 'dashed' through yet another opening, came within range of the Count and delivered a two-handed overhead slash. As expected, Mott managed to put up a wind barrier quickly. What the noble did not expect was the strength behind the attack.

Once Derflinger collided with the wall of wind, Mott immediately realized the difference in strength. His hastily setup wind barrier was no match for this commoner's two-handed slash. Caught unprepared, the mage took evasive action and gave up his wind barrier.

Once Mott and his wind barrier was out of the way, Zero's blade continued its path and struck the stone-walkway the noble was standing on. The force behind the slash was so strong that the blade sliced deep into the rock. It was such a shock to the noble that he could only stare.

Mott watched the commoner dislodge the blade with some difficulty. Then he saw something unusual. The commoner appeared to be panting, slightly. He didn't understand it at first as this commoner had been running around and dodging a lot, and never once did he look tired. Then it came to him. _'That last attack must have taken a lot out of him,'_ he thought. _'That means...'_

Zero saw the noble was on to something. Hiding a smirk, he panted, "Not bad Count Mott, but that's just a precursor for what's to come. My next attack shall bring you to your knee!"

Mott watched as that stupid commoner began circling around him. Giving up his offensive opportunities, the noble focused all his energy to conjure up a much stronger defensive shield. He had tried many offensive spells already, and none made it to their mark. Continuing pursuing the same strategy was a waste of time. The main problem, he realized, was his opponent was surprisingly agile. Give him the slightest opportunity, that bastard will slip away without fail. If he was to win this duel, he needed to create a situation where he would leave absolutely no room for his foe to dodge. That meant timing was essential; he would need to unleash a powerful spell at super close range as some kind of counter...

Truth to be told, he had tried countering numerous times already, but the result had been less than satisfactory. What he truly needed was a 'perfect counter': an offensive counter striking right at the moment when his opponent was initiating an attack or a strong defensive counter resulting in the stunning of his opponent. It was the only way he'll ever land a hit against his speedy foe. However, the former option would leave him very vulnerable; and against a highly skilled swordsman, that would be akin to committing suicide. A defensive counter was about the only real option here. That being said, a 'perfect defensive counter' requires the commoner to strike hard at his defensive spell resulting a stun...which was exactly what the commoner displayed with that sword technique of his was capable of doing...

After circling around three times, the commoner finally decided his course and came rushing in while shouting, "Super Ancient Martial Arts Technique-"

Surprisingly, for all that running around, the commoner chose to go for a frontal assault and prepared for what seemed like yet another overhead slash. From the looks of it, Mott concluded this one might be stronger than the last one. Not that it really matters. He had all the time he needed to charge his wind barrier; and he made it so strong that it could repel some of the strongest earth spells. If this foolish commoner thought he could break his defensive spell so easily, he gravely mistaken...

Mott watched and waited. The power of his charged wind barrier was several times stronger than those previous ones. No matter how strong the commoner's technique was, he's confident his spell could block the attack. The problem was still timing. If he got it wrong, the commoner would be able to glide his sword along his defensive shield again, wasting all his effort. If he timed it correctly, however, the power of his spell would break that fool's blade and hurl him sky high. Then, he could take his time torturing the bastard for humiliating him. Such thoughts delighted the noble...

"-number ninety-nine-" said Zero, finally coming within striking range and raising his blade with both hands.

Mott smirked and raised his staff in preparation of intercepting the commoner's blade. He was readying himself to unleash the full furry of his spell; and everyone watching the duel paid extra attention to the on coming clash, especially on the blond hair commoner's weapon. Then...

"Nut Cracker!"

The initial seconds past by rather quietly. Other than Mott rolling on the ground in agony and the occasional groans and moans coming from him, there was nothing much going on. Everyone watching the duel was quite shocked at the surprising turn of event and just stared, with their mouths hanging wide... Well, it was an expected reaction, and Zero was quite proud of it too. Although... he was a little surprise at the effectiveness of 'that technique'. The database he had was rather vague about it, and he had never personally tried it on anyone nor seen it being use before...

Nonetheless, Zero decided it was best to simply move on and kneeled beside the downed noble...

-z-z-

_'Th-That was his ultimate technique!?'_ Louise's mind screamed, her mouth gaping wide open and her mind drawing blank, as she just stared. She was speechless. It took her a while before she was able to close her mouth. Then, a sudden thought hit upon her. _'A familiar's disgrace is the master's disgrace. If words of this ever get out...'_ As on queue, uncontrollable giggles from that common maid, Siesta, and outright laughter from some common guards permeated the background noises. Immediately, Louise slapped her hand across her face and shook her head in shame. She wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside. She replayed his ultimate technique across her mind over and over, trying to find some justification to its use, something positive. She couldn't and came to only one conclusion. He was an embarrassment, a complete and utter disgrace in her life!

Similar to Louise, Colbert was quite surprised at Zero's 'ultimate technique' and his mouth did opened in disbelieve - not as wide and only for a few seconds. It was quite accurate to say that he did '_not_' see that coming, at all. Unlike his student however, he was able to calmly go back and analyze the entire duel. Count Mott was neither a very powerful nor experience mage; however he is, without a doubt, a triangle level mage. Despite that, Zero was able to toy with him and come out unscathed. _'He is at least as strong as a mid level square mage or more...'_

-z-z-

Count Mott didn't know what happened. He didn't know what hit him or how he was hit. All he knew was pain; tremendous amount of pain spreading through out every part of his body. His legs had given out and he was the ground. He also lost grip with his weapon. All of that happened right after he heard the commoner screaming something unintelligent.

Gradually, he realized what had happened to him. And he was livid! The constant giggles from that damn maid and snickers from his own men only added to his fury. He promised to punish them once he got back to his feet, but then he saw a pair boots kicking away his short staff. He looked up and saw a pair of deep blue eyes staring at him amusingly.

"I think it's quite clear who won this duel, Count Mott," said the commoner.

"You will pay for this commoner!" Mott hissed, still laying on the ground and holding onto his...'injury'.

"Heheh, quite combative still, Count Mott," said the commoner. Soon, the blond broke eye contact and started fiddling with his sword nonchalantly. "But you really should consider withdraw and get 'it' checked out. After all, 'it' took quite a...massive hit. 'It' must be in serious condition right now," said the blond. His tone was entirely mirthful.

Suddenly and without any warning, the commoner plunged his sword onto the ground right next to his neck. "But of course, should you choose to continue this pointless duel, I won't stop you," smiled the blond hair commoner, a pair of deep blue eyes staring right into his. Instead of a joyous pair of blue eyes, Mott immediately recognized them as the eyes of a cold-blooded killer and broke into cold sweat...

Breaking eye contact again, Zero started looking over the prone form of the noble as if he was looking at an insect he was deliberating whether to crush or not. Casually, he spoke, "However, I can safely say, and with a great degree of certainty, that you will not see the next sun rise should you choose to...proceed ahead with this fight." The reploid suddenly regained eye contact with Mott and pressed the edge of the blade against the Count's neck until a thin line of blood started to drip. "So, which is it going to be, Count Mott?"

"...I yield," the Count reluctantly muttered. As much as he hated to admit, he was in no condition to continue fighting. The commoner had won this battle, but all is not over yet. As long as he survives-

"What was that, Count Mott? I am afraid you need to speak a little louder as I don't think anyone can hear you." The blade was pressed further into Mott's neck, slicing deeper into his wound and drawing more blood.

"Grr!" Mott growled and tried to get up. A new surge of pain reminded him of the condition he was in and he screamed, "I yield, I yield!"

"Why, thank you for clarifying that for us, Count Mott. Then, as agreed, I now own this mansion and everything you have in it," said Zero happily. He withdrew his sword, sheathing it, and turned to regard his spectators. Louise was unsurprisingly gritting her teeth while Siesta and the guardsmen were trying hard to striven their giggles and snickering but failing, miserably. Colbert was the only one who remained relatively composed.

"Well, first thing first," announced Zero, smiling. He pointed his finger in the guardsmen's direction and said, "Hey you two, would you please take our Count here to the city and find him a doctor, healer or whatever? We wouldn't want him to die on us now you know." Maybe the guards understood the implications of what that truly meant or perhaps they have recovered from their laughing fits. Whatever the case it may be, they suddenly sobered up and began nervously looking at each other. Seeing the hesitation in their eyes, Zero frowned. He suddenly remembered something and reached into his pocket. He retrieved the couple of gems he pocketed away earlier and said, "Here, take these with you. Use them to pay for his treatment; whatever that is left, you can keep them." The hesitation in their eyes disappeared as greed took over. The guards immediately started preparing for Mott's departure...

'_Humans...'_ Zero mentally sighed. Before he could relax though, Louise marched toward him and-

"Zero, what the hell was that?!" the pink hair girl screamed.

"Hmm?" Zero said, raising an eyebrow. Seeing that cute little face of hers, the reploid decided to humor her a little. "Ahh, you mean the 'nut cracker' technique? Heh, sometimes also known as 'ball buster', it is one of '_men kind's_' most feared technique. Learn this and you will have half of humanity tremble in fear!" he exclaimed. Getting a little carried away with his explanation, he started ignoring warning signs coming from Louise and kept on talking. "Didn't you see its awesome effect, Louise?! No matter how strong your opponent is, just one little kick and it's all over! What's more, the technique is very versatile and comes in with many ways to execute. You can..."

Louise gritted her teeth as she listened to her familiar shamelessly promoting his underhanded...'act'. Yes, an 'underhanded act' because she was too ashamed to label it anything else. Her hands began to ball into tiny fists, and she was seconds away from snapping and gave her familiar a taste of her very own 'ball buster' that he was so proud when Mott suddenly spoke, "Mock my words, commoner, you will pay for this! You will all pay for this!" The imperial messenger practically screamed out his bloody revenge as he was being carried away.

The Count's last words had pink hair girl all worried up. That embarrassing 'act' of her familiar could wait, she decided. Right now, getting ready for whatever the angry Count could throw at them was more important...

Louise's sudden change in expression caught Zero's attention. Curious, the reploid asked, "What's the matter Louise?"

"Shut up, Zero. I am thinking!"

"Of what?"

"Of What?! Of the trouble you got us in, you stupid fool!"

"Hmm?" Zero looked at Louise as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Didn't you realize what you have just done? You picked a fight with a well connected Count. He is bound to seek revenge on us."

Zero blinked and replied, "But I wasn't the one who propose all those chess matches...well aside from the initial one... and I certainly did not propose that duel. You were there; you saw it." He was rather calm with his reply and the tone he used was that of an innocent bystander who didn't know any better. However, if one was to look into his eyes...

"That may be, but he is well connected to the court. He is going to use his influence to twist the facts so that even black would become white," Louise explained. Her head was lowered as she was busy worrying over the trouble she was getting into.

"Aw, you are worrying too much, Louise," said Zero, waving her off and practically dismissing all her worries.

"Miss Vallière may be correct on this matter, Mister Zero," said Colbert. Having quietly observing the whole ordeal, he decided it was time to join in on the conversation. Previously, when the duel was taking place, there was little he could do. When the duel ended abruptly and Mott's life was in danger, there were some hairy moments where he felt he had to intervene. Luckily, it all ended well to which he was glad. Even so, the crisis they now faced had just turned political. Since he was probably the most experienced and knowledgeable in this arena and could offer invaluable insight, he wasted no time in giving his advice, "Right now, we should..."

Sometime in between Colbert's 'political lecture' and ridiculous advices, Siesta joined them on the sideline. She was constantly giving Zero a gaze of guilt and worry. Combine that with Louise constantly nodding of her head to foolish suggestions, Zero couldn't help but sighed. "Let me tell you an easier way to deal with this, you guys. Most connections could be brought with money. If Mott's connection to the royal court is what you are afraid of, all we have to do is start building our own connections to the court. That would counter whatever he does in the future. Given the injury he got right now, I say he won't be going anywhere for the next couple of days. We should use that time to shore up our side of the story so that whatever attempt he throw at us would be for naught."

"Humph! That's easy for you to say. Do you have any idea how much of a fortune that would cost? Beside-"

"Louise, we got all the fortune we needed right here," countered Zero, pointing to Mott's huge mansion and everything within that now belonged to them.

Suddenly, laughter was heard. It was Derflinger. "Haha, using your enemy's fortune to buy yourself influence and immunity from your enemy's attempt at vengeance? Hahaha, you sure are an evil one, Zero."

"I know," Zero solemnly reply. There was a hint of sadness in his tone, but it was totally ruined by his smiling face which indicates where his true feeling lies...

...And for the first time, both Louise and Colbert took notice of that and were both rendered speechless.

"As I was saying before I got interrupted: I know of a person whose family had some beef with Mott. If we could get-"

"Grr! What does beef have anything to do with this?!" Louise snapped.

"I meant feud, grudge. Jeez, can't you read in between the context," the reploid sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look, this person and his family know all about Mott and his political weak points. Get him, and we'll be fine." He said it with such confident that it was almost as if he had already thought of the consequences before hand and ways to counter it too...

After that latest bit of revelation, both Louise and Colbert came to the same conclusion as the ancient sword and that was: Zero is evil...

"Anyway, it is getting late. You guys should get some rest," announced Zero happily.

"But-"

"Louise, there's no point in worrying yourself over this, especially when there isn't much you could do about it at this point. It's best to clear your mind and get some rest. Let tomorrow's problems be solve by the tomorrow of us," said the reploid. "For now, let's enjoy ourselves by fully utilizing what Mott had so 'generously' left for us." He began gently nudging Louise toward the mansion.

"..." Colbert watched as Zero and Louise fell into their usual 'spoil brat versus patient adult' routine. He stopped for a moment, think over their current predicament, and came to a conclusion. "Mr. Zero is right, Miss Vallière. It is getting late, and we do have a few days to deal with this. Let us get some rest for now and worry about it tomorrow."

Reluctantly, Louise went inside the mansion, followed by Colbert shortly afterward. Having had nothing else to do, Siesta joined the two nobles and approached the mansion. Just when she was at the front door, Zero spoke, "Yo, Siesta; may I have a word with you?"

"What is it, Zero-san?"

Once Zero led the maid to a quieter place, he spoke. "You remembered what I said about overcoming my greatest challenge?" The maid nodded. "Well, there was one thing I forgot to mention. When I was about to collapse from exhaustion during my fight, the um...'spirit' of my best friend, X, along with three of his, erm...'closest servants' came to my aid. It was with their help and encouragements that I was able to overcome my greatest foe." Smiling warmly, he continued, "You see, Siesta, there are times when we may come across crises that are too much for us to handle alone. When that happens, it's important to talk to your friends and see if they can help you."

"Z-Zero-san..." Siesta replied, with tears swelling in her eyes...

Chapter End

* * *

AN: There are a lot going on in this chapter, so much that I am not sure where to begin. I guess I will just start from the beginning.

Siesta at the top of this chapter was essentially going through something like the 'five stages of grief'. Her outburst was a sign in which she saw Zero as something similar to Jesus and wondered if he was the real deal. Putting that through in a subtle way with conversation proved very difficult and I will leave it at that for now…

Zero's rune was also touch upon a little bit here. Basically, it was to show that he can have the rune active even if he is not holding onto a weapon, because he is a weapon. Perhaps the more important thing to note here was Zero's outburst. It was used to show that even he had 'scars of war' somewhere deep within his soul. In another word, Zero is not always 'happy'. Further plotlines regarding those runes will have to wait in future chapters. By the way, Zero thinks Siesta was influential among the commoners. As for whether he actually liked doing laundry…I shall let you draw your own conclusion.

Kirche vs Zero is the next big piece here. Kirche constantly tried to push things into rate M direction while Zero tried to keep thing PG13. I guess it all came down to something like this: a perverted old man (Kirche) trying to solicit a young innocent girl (Zero) into sex only to find out she wasn't so innocent and had some major ulterior motives… It's funny but a tough idea to write. Anyway, Zero finally score a win, a major win even if the match was really close. If you didn't get it, Flame was now mad at Kirche and she was too busy repairing that relation to chase after Zero.

Next piece was explaining Louise's familiar issues. Then, Colbert issues with Zero. The contrasting point of view between them was quite funny. Well, the idea was funny; executing it, not so much…

Mott: *Sigh*. He had a lot of scheming going on, and so were Zero and Louise and Colbert. *Sigh* I pretty much put them all in here, which kind of ruins the flow of the story, but I feel their point of view is important in pushing their actions. This is especially true for Mott. However, some of those schemes never actually come into play because of action taken by others. For example: Mott was ready to cook up some bogus charges and have Zero, Louise and Colbert arrested if Zero refuse to accept the duel. Different people think different things; and merging them all together was…urg. I hope you didn't get confuse by them.

The fight with Mott was another area where I know what kind of result I wanted but getting there was more…unclear. I don't have a lot of reference on Mott's offensive capabilities, or the entire cast of FoZ really, so it was written in a rather lazy kind of way. Oh, and Zero fighting at a human level was his way of showing Siesta that commoners can defeat nobles, therefore she should not write herself off. Also, Siesta giggled and the guards only snickered. Louise was just overreacting describing them as laughter.

Although politics was mention, I am not going to dwell too deep on it. Essentially, Mott was finished. To lose to a commoner on both intelligence and direct duel suggest he is weak in the eyes of his peers. Without any fortune to carry on, even more people will dump him. The position as an imperial messenger is, in reality, an expendable position. Add to that, Louise is a friend of Henrietta and Mott, in this version, was an enemy of Guiche's father which is an army general. There are simply too many factors going against him. The most he could get, even if he makes a formal complain to the royal court, is a rematch. Best case scenario: another duel (highly unlikely); next best thing: chess rematch (reasonable, but not guaranteed); worst case scenario: nothing happens and he is force to accept reality. These are the reasons why Zero acted so carefree. Going forward, which scenario will this story choose? I don't know; I don't care. And yes, I believed Zero is not 0 when it comes to politics. People like Saito, however, is a 0 in politics.

Aside from politics, there was also the problem of money that he won. I had toyed with the idea of setting up some kind of public facility for commoners like a school but it didn't feel realistic…

Finally, I am sure there will be people who complain Zero is behaving way too OOC and I will agree. But, let's just say that was how a 'Happy Zero' operates. Why happy? If you are able to manipulate people into doing things you wanted them to do, would you be happy too? Hahaha…

Alright feedback to last time's reviews.

top10, idea getthe, &amp; Pensuka: Poor Derflinger indeed. LOL Anyway, as you can see here, Zero can activate the runes without weapon; so theoretically Derf could go all shiny again if he chooses to. Even so, Derf will just have to accept his fate as an inferior weapon. Hmm…not sure how to turn Derf into a reploid, but I have seen him turned into a pikachu before, but no, I rather like keeping Derflinger as an ancient sword and mess with his mind… LOL Magic negate is just not very useful when Zero can either tank or dodge pretty much anything this world can throw at him. Again, poor Derf; but everyone is getting screwed so it's only fair that he also gets his share.

1stHorseman: Ah, pairings. Heh, um, FoZ is a comedy harem so this will be a comedy harem. But because the protagonist is Zero and he does not mash well with romance, it will be largely an 'unwanted harem'. Which girl gets in which does not? Any girls that I could get them falling in love with him within reason will get in. Current, Kirche and Siesta had already fallen into the love web. Will this harem dilemma hurt the girls in the long run? Probably. Do I care? NO. Will he end up with anyone? I leave that up to you. By that I mean it will be unclear which path he takes and all routes are valid. Draw your own conclusion.

LL: The mind-control part of the rune had barely any effect to begin with and was totally eliminated by end of chapter 4. LOL Ultimately only Zero can prevent Zero from annihilating Halkeginia… Not to worry too much, Zero is strong minded. He'll not lose control. As for the virus…I never quite understand it either, but it does look a glitch. As far as I know, the virus gave Zero a power boost, damage Light-bots, and cause Zero to go on a murderous rampage/insane. The first two effects are probably what Wily had hoped for and got but the last bit is probably not something he thought would happen (therefore glitch). My theory is that the virus had some kind of compatibility issue with Zero's core personality (similar to Colonel and Iris). Zero, Wily's legacy, is to show the world he is superior to Dr. Light so it makes no sense to make a monster that only knows destruction. Dr. Light made X to fit in. Wily made Zero to rule so his personality and appearance is very important. A monstrous robot will not cement his legacy so it had to be a glitch. A One shot - 'Never say die' by Archaon - offers some very interesting twist to the virus. Definitely worth reading.

ChaosxPaladin: 'Happy Zero' Hahaha. He really is happy here isn't he? Well, he did have amnesia so he is less likely to carry the baggage from the X series. The Zero series was short and there are bright spots like Ciel so…Anyway, the argument saying 'Zero isn't one to hold back' doesn't match well with the later statement that reads 'he does it because his opponents are human'. On the subject matter of holding back or not… Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate and respect your POV, but I would also like to inject my own POV here. I am going to have to say that Zero OFTEN holds back. LOL I bet you didn't see that coming. LOL But despite what he said about not hesitating and kill all who oppose him at the end of Z1, what you find from Z1-4 were hesitations and half-ass fighting. Case in point, the Guardians: he never actually kills any of them despite having the motive to do it, the power to do it, and the chances to do so. Hell, Leviathan even complained about not getting finished her off was a disrespect to her being a warrior. Kraft round 2 was another example in which Zero let the guy off easy. I mean, he only beat the poor guy to within half an inch of his life. He didn't cut him in half like he did with so many others (boss included). In the end, Kraft was able make peace before he dies. If Zero was truly ruthless and goes to the extremes, he would have shot Elpizo in the face the moment he saw the guy and drag him back to the resistance base. Instead, Zero chased him all over Neo Arcadia trying to convince him by words. Such hesitation ultimately led to X's body getting destroy, releasing the Dark Elf. Even worse, if you talk to Ciel early in the game, Zero apparently knew something was very wrong with Elpizo and that was before the guy gone rogue. Knowing an issue and not addressing it ASAP by any mean necessary doesn't speak well with the whole going extreme argument. Power is another area where he tends to hold back, a lot. In story terms, Omega + Dark Elf was suppose to be strongest entity in MMZ. Even the combine force of Leviathan, Fefnir, and an unknown number of pantheons weren't able to defeat Omega's first form with no Dark Elf. Zero gone through all three with almost no help. In another word, Zero is very scary if he truly goes no holds barred. Guardians, Kraft, Elpizo, Copy X weren't even in his league. But even with all these mounting evidences, you may not be entirely wrong either. LOL Maddening, I know. From my observation: Zero tends to raise his power to match his opponent's, provided they are strong enough. Those that were too weak tend to get chop in half (pantheons). In that sense, enemies like the Guardians became dangerous and he appeared not hold back much. (Nuking bugs is funny) Finally, the idea that Zero saw no threat from Fouquet was certainly one of the main reasons why he holds himself back against her. However, it had nothing to do with Fouquet being human. Zero will kill human when he deemed necessary. There is at least one person who was scheduled to die in this story. See profile to learn who. And if you wish to learn the true ulterior motive for him holding back on Fouquet, read the following reply as well. LOL

xbox432: Now you know what those pressure points are for. LOL The problem with Zero and Osmond's talk is that their thoughts are a little too synchronized. I am not sure how to make it better though… Fights being unpredictable and Zero is cocky? Well…I totally agree which is why that cocky bastard got a missile to his face. LOL As for protecting civilians… I do understand, but it really depends on the circumstances. When it come to Louise's group, it's better for them to take the lead so they could get some experience while Zero watch from the shadows because they are not defenseless, have volunteered and will likely to volunteer again, and he is not always there to protect them. Groups like Siesta, however, are a different story.

Urg…that is about it for now. Next chapter will be the love potion episode. Like this one, expect long delay as I will have to construct everything from scratch. Kind of getting tired…


End file.
